Summer Guide 2011:
Take it to the River Inner tubes, cold water and hot daysû
Jump How does starting off your summer freefalling from 10,000 feet sound?
Five ways to not get bike-jacked this summer
Cool off with your brain off VI: Son of Sequelitis
Enter the Realmû Live your legend this summer at Faerieworldsû
Jump
 |
| Courtesy Eugene Skydivers |
Urban Moore, 62, owner and instructor at Eugene Skydivers, has logged more than 9,000 jumps. øStill here, havent died once,” he says. The Eugene Skydivers school in Creswell is not more than a 30-minute drive away from town. How does starting off your summer freefalling from 10,000 feet sound?
Youll need to call in advance; no walk-ins. After a 20-minute ground course at the school ‹ where you are taught how to move about inside the plane, the correct way to hook up and exit, the appropriate freefall position and how to land ‹ you will take off on your skydiving adventure.
Once you grow the courage to jump (tandem of course, as is the rule if you are jumping for the first time), youll enjoy roughly 35 seconds of complete freefall. Your tandem partner pulls the main parachute at 5,000 feet, and you drift through Oregon skies. There is always a reserve chute, in case the main chute fails to open. Eugene Skydivers not only boast electronically-timed back-up chutes, but they are known to pack their parachutes in a way that allows them to open slowly ‹ maximizing your drop time on the way down.û
If youve never jumped before, Moore says there isnt anything else you can do on earth that matches it. He also says that contrary to popular belief, you dont get a sensation of falling such as one experiences on a rollercoaster. øOnce you get out of the airplane, it feels like you are just floating,” Moore says.
You may want to plan your jump a bit later in the season though. øWe cant jump through clouds,” Moore says with regret. Shortly after the 4th of July, when (hopefully) the weather is a sure bet in Oregon, would be the optimum time to take a dive. ‹ Dante ZuÀiga-West
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519