The women will be looking to take advantage of mostly favourable weather conditions this week to set the new record for Finnish skydiving at the Uti airport in Kouvola, eastern Finland. The last time a team attempted a record jump was back in 2005, when 35 women took to the skies.
The women gathered from Monday at an event organised by Skydive Finland, and have been practicing their jump daily for 12 hours from 8.00 am. The team of 50 is hoping to make the official record attempt Thursday or Friday, regardless of prevailing weather conditions.
“The country’s best skydivers are gathered here. Some of the women were part of the previous Finnish record attempt, as well as a world record bid. In addition we have a few slightly newer jumpers who don’t have a lot of experience. We will combine our skills and we will make the record,” said event spokesman and skydiver Maura Rosqvist.
Ground rehearsals
Uti has seen very windy weather recently, which has prevented the women from reaching the upper atmosphere. The conditions have to be just right to execute the record-setting jump.
“It’s very important that the sky is cloudless, both for the planes and for the jumpers. Additionally, it can’t be too windy for the jump, because we want to be able to land on the designated spot,” Rosqvist explained.
Rehearsals for the jump have so far been occurring on the ground until such time as the weather favours an aerial jump, which will involve three or four aircraft.
“Usually we jump from an altitude of four kilometers, but for this attempt we will go even higher to 4.5 kilometres. One group will jump first and the rest will follow. The team will be in free fall for about one minute, then we will come together and make our formations. We will open our parachutes and the descent and landing will take another five minutes or so,” Rosqvist said, describing the team’s routine.
Skydive Finland will also host the Finnish Skydiving national championship in Uti from July 29th to August 2. The competition will involve all manner of aerial jumps, from precision to freestyle skydiving.
