Guest Blog - Indoor skydiving!

You might have seen us share some posts of people whirling around in a giant transparent cylinder and wondered what is going on! Well it’s indoor skydiving and Colorado based Kiana Adamson has shared with us her indoor sky diving story and what’s involved in the sport.

A sensational feeling – that’s what I feel as an indoor skydiver. It’s hard to explain the feeling of flight.

What is indoor skydiving?

Indoor skydiving takes place in a glass tunnel 14 feet around. I’m flying in hurricane force winds - being thrown around by more than 150 MPH! I’ve had to learn how to control my body, flipping and twisting through difficult maneuvers. Just a bend of the wrist can spin you in circles.

Some tricks are harder to learn than others, but it’s like riding a bike - when you get a skill you can’t unlearn it. It can be scary flying head-down face-first towards a glass wall, you get bumps and bruises all the time. That’s why I wear a helmet and a full skin-tight body suit. The sport of tunnel flying involves the whole body. Every single muscle has a job to do.

4-way dynamic is a very exciting event in tunnel flying, having to maneuver through three other bodies with just inches to spare. The event is timed, and you want to go as fast as possible, turning into quadrants of the tunnel, crossing the “imaginary” line. If even a finger touches the line, it adds a five second penalty. Fastest time wins.

Remembering the lines is just half the battle, with little room for error and pressure to not mess up, you have to put in lots of hours for training; hours of working on technique and positioning. All the fundamentals are what helped us achieve the silver. There is a junior division at worlds, where team Volare will be entered.

My indoor skydiving story

I started flying when she I was just 8 years old. My dad, Chris, was part of a league that practice one day a week out of Ifly Denver in Lonetree, Colorado. Soon enough I was hooked and started showing up more and more.

I would just hang out and watch my dad. Sometimes I would go put on a suit and jump in there. I thought it was a lot of fun and couldn’t stop. It’s addictive.

As I showed up more and more, I flew more often, soon taking all dad’s time! My dad says, ‘I’d rather spend the money on her, I spent two years learning one trick and it took her two months. She surpassed me in a heartbeat.’

At my first competition back in 2018, I placed first in freestyle intermediate! Everyone was super proud.

Team Volare

I am a member of Team Volare alongside my three teammates: Bella Capra, 13, of Oregon, Gigi Keuer, 15, of Illinois, and Jill Knutson 16, New York. We’ve just competed in the 2021 US indoor skydiving nationals beating teams of grown men who were former national champions.

We’ve earned ourselves the chance to go to the 2022 world championships in Belgium! We will be traveling there in April for training and the competition.

‘It’s a big accomplishment, I’m really proud!’ says my dad.

For the past year and a half, we’ve been training so hard. We’ve been traveling to Virginia, Chicago, Florida, Texas, Portland and Michigan. ‘Everyone has put in so much work and money for this team to succeed,’ says Dad.

Our coach, Mike Wittenburg, has done more the 18,000 jumps out of a plane. His kids Kaleigh, 17 and Noah, 15 are 3-time US national champs and reigning world champions. So, team Volare get trained by the best in the world!

Competing is very draining and it’s hard work, but you get used to it. A typical competition means that Team Volare has to travel to a venue, often a long flight away (& back of course) and then we spend all day there, sometimes from 5:00am to 9:00 pm. We are upside down, twisting and flipping for 12 hours a day! At some tunnels it can get up to 108 degrees (Fahrenheit). It’s a lot on the body – it’s hard core.

But it’s worth it when you can show off your skills to people who didn’t even know the sport existed. People think it’s so cool when I tell them. They want to know all about it and see videos of it.

Inspire

Creating a junior team made out of young girls, is to show the importance of girls in sports. Girls work so hard to prove themselves. I want to inspire girls to work hard towards what they want. Not just sitting at home thinking of what they could be but getting out there and working their tail off to be the best they can be.

I love working so hard to the point where I can’t stand anymore. Then going to competition and seeing all that hard work pay off.

Paying for skydiving is tricky too. Indoor skydiving is quite expensive, all the airtime and traveling adds up. I started a business sewing and making my own scrunchies to sell at craft fairs. In 2019 I made just over $1,000. Crazy right? I could buy my own flight suit for $600! It has more value when you buy something you’ve worked so hard to pay for. I believe it’s important to work hard for what you want.

Team Volare hopes to dominate at the world championships this April. To follow our journey follow @volaregirls_ on Instagram. And my journey is @kiki_flygirl11 on Instagram. Root them on as Team Volare goes for gold representing America, and girl power of course.

p.s. Just in case you see some beach volleyball photos, I’m also one of the top beach volleyball players in Colorado! I travel all over for volleyball as well. I hope to get a college scholarship for beach volleyball. This year, 2021, I made varsity volleyball team as a freshman! I hope to do track in the spring - I love being active and working out.

p.p.s. And I’m also an ambassador for https://www.tooprettybrand.com/ a women’s sports clothing line. To inspire women to confidently be themselves.

Thank you Kiana for educating us all on indoor sky diving - it sounds fascinating!

GIRLS IN SPORT, GIRLS WELLNESS, SPORTS KITCaroline KINGSFebruary 2, 2022INDOOR SKYDIVING