Catching up with Argy Alvarez

Get to know one of the newest members of Team Fly4Life…

When Fly4Life announced their new team members at their camp last year, there was a lot of excitement. One of the most influential teams in angle flying had more than doubled in size with a lineup of talented flyers. One of those flyers is Argy Alvarez. I’ve known Argy for three years now, having crossed paths many times at Spaceland Houston, Dallas as well as LSD camps and Tropical Space Camp. Argy has always been a creative hard worker with a real endearing humbleness. It’s a pleasure to interview him and hear a bit more of his story. I couldn’t be more stoked for his success. 

Where are you from and where’s your home DZ? 

I’m originally from Venezuela but currently based in Dallas, Texas. 

How’d you get started in jumping? 

I had a desire for skydiving since I was a teenager but wasn’t able to afford it as a hobby when I was living in Venezuela. As soon as I moved to the US in 2016, I started saving money for my first tandem and license. I did my first tandem jump at Skydive Spaceland Dallas in Oct 2017. I couldn’t stop thinking about skydiving after that first jump and decided to get my license right away. I got my license in March 2018 and haven’t stopped since.

What has been your progression in camera flying?

As a new skydiver with an A license, I started to consider the possibility of working in the sport. Unfortunately, all the options seemed to be way out of reach because of time and money. At 60 jumps I met an iFly instructor in Oklahoma. She mentioned they were desperately looking for new instructors. Get paid to learn and fly? My jaw dropped. I went home and researched everything about tunnel flying. 

I saw a path. Almost like a cheat code or a shortcut. But let’s be honest, as a skydiver living in Dallas and jumping at Spaceland (one of the best DZs in the US, hands down), living in Oklahoma was not an appealing idea. I started looking for an open instructor position at iFly Dallas. To make a long story short, I quit my regular office job and accepted the position as a tunnel instructor at iFly Dallas, making $11/hr. 

Working at the tunnel made skydiving harder to afford. I didn’t have enough money or enough time to jump but at least I was learning how to fly my body and getting paid while doing it.

I started looking at the real professionals and doing some research and almost every story was the same: they had been jumping most of their life. Starting at 26 years old made me doubt if I was going to be able to achieve any sort of success. But that didn’t stop me. I had to at least try.

I noticed there was a lack of quality media content in the community. I had experience as a professional videographer, photographer, marketer and video editor. This helped me connect the dots and to try to fill up some of that media content gap that was missing in the community.

I bought my first camera helmet before I was even able to jump a GoPro. As soon as I hit 200 jumps, I started to jump my GoPro. Soon after I started jumping my Panasonic GH5. In hindsight, I definitely should’ve trained more with my GoPro before putting a bigger camera on my helmet. Luckily it ended up working out okay for me.

I started offering my services as a videographer to my local DZ. They eventually offered me a gig at the American Revolution Boogie at Spaceland Dallas. That was my first job as a camera flyer. 

Who have been some of your influences in flying and camera work? 

I was inspired by the work of Satori Factory and Richie Scheurich. It was the kind of content that I wanted to create. And by ‘content’ I mean that it was definitely the kind of flying that I wanted to capture. It was also the kind of flying that I wanted to do.

I became obsessed with movement jumps. I started to pay more attention to some of the people leading this style. Fly4Life has been a big one for the community. I didn’t know any of the Fly4Life team members. I had no idea that the members were from Venezuela. I was so inspired by these guys. I got coaching with Luis Prinetto in 2020. I assisted in my first movement camp at Tropical Space Camp and then the Fly4Life Flight Camp. The growth was incredible.

What was the moment like for you when the guys asked you to join the team?

Luis and Claudio told me they needed to talk to me. They asked me if I wanted to join the team. For a few weeks I thought it was some sort of prank but now I have my own email @teamfly4life.com so I don’t think it’s a joke. At least I hope not. But all jokes aside, I’m beyond stoked for having the chance to call these guys my teammates.

I don’t just have the opportunity to create stunning content with this amazing team but I also get to train, keep building up and share life with all of them.

Who makes the best arepas on the team?

I didn’t want to make it public, but I definitely make the best arepas out of all of them.

Are you focusing on camera or can we expect more from you in the future?

Honestly I’m not putting 100% of my interest or dedication into camera flying or editing. I absolutely love and enjoy doing it and when I’m doing it I’m giving my 100%. I love balancing camera flying with coaching and fun jumping. I find myself often enjoying more coaching than camera flying. I feel pretty grateful to be able to do both and balance that out.

What do you do outside of skydiving?

I don’t do it well, or often, but I love surfing. Outside of skydiving I’d say that’s my favorite thing to do. I also just got into FPV and flying quadcopters and I’m getting a bit obsessed with it.

I work as a freelance videographer outside of the skydiving community. I’ve been doing it for about 10 years. Some of those years were just as a hobby, nowadays professionally.

What piece of advice would you give to a new jumper?

The best piece of advice that I can give to newer skydivers would be to consider slowing down on things like downsizing, swooping, leading jumps, etc. The problem with this advice is that I know most people won’t listen to it. If you’re reading this and thinking that you might be going a bit fast and don’t want to necessarily take the advice, at least try to get as educated as you can. Try to learn all the things from the best people out there about anything in the sport.

Where can we find you this year? 

I’ll be around some different dropzones this year, in and out of the US. If somebody wants to reach out for camera flying, coaching, advice or just to say hi, they can get me on IG @alvarezgen