'Vertical Descent' was born at Skydive Ramblers in May last year. 1 year on and they've just completed their 8th skills camp, focusing purely on static vertical flying.

Where Did Static Go?

In recent years, the popularity of angle flying has gone from strength to strength, becoming the most coached discipline at camps, boogies and weekends at the dropzone. And this isn't without reason - angles are super fun - but where does this leave the static freefly scene, which was once a real highlight at dropzones down under?

This is a question that got two very talented and passionate vertical flyers and coaches - Matt Thomas (Maddog) and David Schlatter (Flossy) - brainstorming ideas early last year. They wanted to work towards a solution to close the gap between those wanting to learn vertical freeflying and the highly advanced flyers, developing skills and enabling people to be able to turn static points with their mates in the sky.

Enter 'Vertical Descent', which debuted at Skydive Ramblers on 18-19 May 2024. Led by Maddog and Flossy, the skills camp had small coached groups and perfectly planned jumps, focusing on foundations, safety and progression to address the skills gap. Fast forward 1 year, and the VD crew have completed their 8th edition of Vertical Descent. Now that's progress!

Vertical Descent 8

"Vertical Descent 8 went straight down at Skydive Ramblers on May 17 & 18. It was the 1 year anniversary of our first event and we celebrated accordingly with another ripper camp. The progression we have seen in the last year is through the roof and we're just getting started!

We ran this one combining both orientations with a 9-way HD group and a 4-way HU group, with John Hannan running outside camera.

Saturday morning saw a bit of cloud, but once we got going the weather turned it on for the rest of the weekend. We completed 9 jumps over the 2 days and saw some epic progression and levelling up!

Special thanks to all of the participants, coaches and camera, Skydive Ramblers and all of the team, the South Queensland Parachute Council and Toogoolawah Skydivers Club for their continued support. It would not be possible without you all!

See you at the next one."

Check out the Vertical Descent Facebook Page for more information on upcoming events.

Thanks to Matt Thomas for his contributions to this article.

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[Photo Sources: John Hannan, Matt Thomas]