Fall Risk: A Skydiving Podcast

Brothers Dan and Tyler Michie started skydiving together back in 2020, when shit hit the fan with the COVID pandemic. Interested in so many of the same aspects of life, naturally they chose to start their jumping careers together. Four years later, they're still both going strong in the community, with Tyler hitting the coaching aspect of skydiving, and Dan pursuing a path in camera flying. Tu...

I met Lori Eyler back in the fall of the 2016. She was incredibly kind to a complete stranger (me) who needed help. I learned a lot about her the winter I lived in her suburban California home, but this episode allowed me the chance to ask some of the questions I never got a chance to ask. There's no doubt Lori Eyler is a talented, accomplished skydiver, particularly as an established camera f...

Join me this week and tune into another episode, this time centered around long time jumper, and multi-world and state record holding skydiver, Wade Baird. Anyone who knows Wade, is keenly aware of how much they can learn by jumping with him. Whether it has to do with formation skydiving, competition, angles, big ways, or just having plain ol' regular skydiving fun, Wade contains a depthless w...

Join the show this week and tune in to listen to Angie Aragon's journey through the world of skydiving--how she went from the average jumper at Skydive Elsinore, to a full time instructor, a tandem examiner, and now a National Director. This episode is full with knowledge, experience, and thought provoking concepts about safety, compassion, and wisdom in the world of jumping. Don't miss it...

Join me this week while I chat with Mike Silva and Josh Evans of Team Collective about everything VFS, flight skills, and re-living some of the glory days at SkyVenture Colorado. If you've ever been interested in pursuing competitive skydiving in VFS (or any discipline really), make sure you don't miss this episode. Josh and Mike take me through the nitty gritty phases of building a team,...

Join me and a new special guest this week, for a riveting story about a woman named Tiny Broadwick. It's alright if you've never heard her name before. Up until a year ago, I'd never heard of her either. But don't let her anonymity fool you. She is quite literally the unspoken mother of skydiving as we know it today. Don't miss this glimpse into our sport's history. Sit bac...

Cam Haley might genuinely be one of the nicest folks on the dropzone. Don't take my word for it--ask anyone who knows him, and I'd bet money they only ever have kind words to say. Cam started skydiving in college, during which he inherited control of his college parachuting club, competed at Collegiates, and amassed an obscene amount of tunnel time for a college student. Following that, he...

Back for her third time on Fall Risk, Jen Halvorson joins me to talk about her experience hosting and organizing her very first women's HD camp. She explains what the planning process was like, how the camp was structured, and what participants got out of the entire event, including what she wants to do moving forward.

If your skydiving progression has been anything like mine, then you have always been consistently blown away when visiting the larger southern dropzones during your skydiving off season. These dropzones operate like well-oiled machines, and they literally have it all. Multiple aircraft, world class instructors and coaches, daily on-site organizers, gear stores, and events happening around the cloc...

What a wonderful coincidence, that Julie Kleinwort's episode is being released on Christmas. The most cheerful and inviting time of the year, directly coinciding with one of the happiest and peppiest women on the dropzone. Ask anyone who knows her--Julie is on another level when it comes to being cheerful. But don't let that bubbly exterior fool you, Julie possesses a razor sharp focus, an...

Daina Tubbs is the literal embodiment of a ray of sunshine. Truly, there's nobody on the dropzone with a better attitude and personality than her. That in and of itself is amazing given how long she's worked as a full time skydiving instructor in this incredibly stressful work environment. This episode goes off the rails in the best way possible, as Tubbs and I get into her backstory, how...

Pairing creativity and innovation with the world of skydiving can sometimes be a tall order. It's hard to stay on top of creative projects that take ages to complete within the ever changing world of the skydiving community. No one knows this better than Leah Levy. At 28 years old and just under a decade in the sport, Leah's flying resumes boast some very impressive feats, including Projec...

The man, the myth, the legend: Garet Bloodworth. What else needs to be said? In this episode, Garet joins me to discuss his lengthy career in the world of flight, including his time as a tunnel instructor, a skydiving coach, and most recently, as a pilot. But don't let his megastar reputation fool you--Garet is one of the most laid back guys you'll see on the dropzone this episode as evide...

On the surface, Tamara Bartlett is a bubbly, charismatic skydiver, one who is eager to engage others in conversation, go on "wahoo" skydives, and generally seems to get along with everyone. Under that exterior though, lies a determined, focused, and goal oriented attitude, one who establishes milestones, and chases relentlessly after them. Listen into this episode, where we dive into Tam&#...

Richo Butts is a man of many talents. The skillset he's acquired over years of skydiving and flying is seriously mindblowing. Over the last decade, Richo has made a name for himself as one of the world's premier canopy pilots, and in recent times, has added to his skill set by fine tuning his freefly and bigway skills, as well as become a licensed pilot and pursued an aerobatic pilot caree...

Andy Malchiodi is a household name in skydiving. The sheer number of years he's been active in the skydiving community would astound even the most diligent and relentless skydivers of today. Over time, he's travelled the world, accumulated countless skydives of all types, and organized more camps and events than can be counted. In addition to all the aforementioned accolades, Andy has also...

2023 marks the first year of Koemi Valencia being on an official competitive skydiving team. Ask her yourself, this is a dream she's been chasing since she started skydiving, just a few years ago. Driven and inspired, Koemi takes us through what her journey to this stage has been like so far, and where she wants to go moving forward with her competitive goals in skydiving. Koemi has a wonderfu...

Have you ever dreamed of sharing a face meltingly awesome adventure with your partner? Surely you've dreamt of what you'd do on said adventure... the sights you'd see, the things you'd talk about, the places you'd go together, the shenanigans you'd get up to? If you've lost yourself daydreaming about this very idea, then look no further than Denise and Kory Kruzikas--th...

Known as literally the nicest guy on the dropzone, Matt Congdon has made a name for himself through a constant pursuit of knowledge, and then passing that information onto the next generation of skydivers. Truly, there's nothing more exciting for Matt than to either be pursuing his own goals, or helping others achieve their own. Join us as we discuss what Matt's start in skydiving was like...

Remember the name Sam Stenzel. Someday, you're gonna hear it on the news or in an article or see him in a video talking about the next big adventure in space exploration. Seriously--this kid is going places. Sam has been flying in more ways than one, since he was very young. As a gymnast, he spent more than his fair share of time in the air tackling a wide variety of aerial stunts and tricks....

It's hard not to notice Patrick Kessler on the dropzone. He is after all, almost seven feet tall. But that's not what makes him stand out. No, what really makes Patrick stand out from the crowd is his unusually quiet nature. Truly, Pat is the quietly stoic figure in the room, letting his keen observational skills and soft advice do all the talking for him. Which is probably why he's an...

Very likely the most laid back guy on the dropzone, Travis Mickle has created a name for himself not only as an incredibly easy going dude, but also as one of the more talented wingsuit pilots of the world. In this episode, Travis takes listeners through a brief overview of his early skydiving days and what got him started in this sport we all know and love. Listen in, as Travis tells Sam all abou...

If you've never met the guys of Skydive Midwest Chemtrails, you should immediately get in your car and head to SDMW, because you're missing out on the chance of knowing (and flying with) five incredibly cool people. Currently known as the biggest 4-Way VFS team (seriously they're almost all over seven feet tall), Chemtrails is comprised of DZO Keith George, lineman Matt Congdon, electr...

Have you ever wondered how the cameraman became the cameraman? Has the thought, "How did he get SO good at that..." ever crossed your mind when leafing through your local cameraman's reel? If so, you should absolutely NOT miss this episode. In the fourteen years Elliot Byrd has been skydiving, he's amassed thousand of jumps across multiple disciplines--though a large number of them...

The Dunning Kruger Effect... maybe you've heard of it? Let me give you a little breakdown just in case you haven't. The DKE is a cognitive bias which says that people with low ability, expertise, or experience regarding a type of task or area of knowledge tend to overestimate their ability or knowledge. There's more to it than just that obviously, but the aforementioned phrase is somet...