With over 23,000 jumps and a resume that spans world records, gold medals, and team leadership, Jason Russell has helped shape what modern vertical flying looks like.
From his early days in motocross to dominating VFS podiums with SDC Core, Jason has consistently shown up as both an elite competitor and a consisten instructor. He’s trained countless flyers, led innovation through Krāv alongside his wife and teammate Stephanie Strange, and stayed rooted in devotion and passion to his craft. I caught up with Jason to dive into his background of his flying, the mindset behind his competing, and where he sees the sport going next.
You’ve been in the game for over 20 years, and you’ve shaped a lot of what’s now standard in vertical flying. Where do you see your role in the sport today?
We’re still training full time as a VFS team, and I guess I still largely think of myself as a competitor. I love working with VFS teams of any level, and do that whenever I’m asked. I remain involved in the bigway scene, running camps and helping run the actual record events. Interestingly, I don’t think of myself as an angle fly guy, but over the last few years I’ve been working with Skydive Chicago to develop a sensible approach to certifying flyers and leaders who want to angle fly there. I look forward to working with USPA regarding some of the ways they approach competition. As always, I want to work with jumpers at any level to keep high standards for safety and competence around the dz.
What’s kept you engaged and evolving not just as a flyer, but as a coach and a leader in skydiving?
I think a lot of people who get into the competitive scene are like me, that constant improvement is just the way you approach life. Despite all the jumps and tunnel hours, I’ve got so many things I can improve. I do feel very comfortable in leadership roles, but I don’t really know where that came from, just something that developed over the years. I genuinely enjoy teaching, so I think all those things together leads to the picture you see.
SDC Core has had such a consistent presence in VFS. What’s kept the team performing strong through the years?
While Steph and I were in Dubai, we had an incredible opportunity to train, and despite not having much coaching, we were able to make a lot of progress through repetition. That time was great for VFS, with some really good teams from the US, as well as the French team 4Speed (3 time World Champions), all of us pushing each other to be better. Since returning to the US, we still hold ourselves to that competitive level as a standard, and try to share that with our current lineup, as well as teams around the world.
How has competition changed you? Not just as a flyer, but as a person?
As a flyer, training for competition will shine a bright light on the things you need to improve. That’s one of my favorite things about competition, that you just cannot hide from your deficiencies as a flyer. As a person, the rest of the time you spend with your team will likely shine a bright light on the interpersonal improvements you need to make. Of course you need to be open to those possibilities, accept that you do need to change, and listen to the subtle cues your teammates are giving you. That part was its own challenge for me, and despite lots of change, there’s still lots of room to grow.
You’ve worked with skydivers at all levels throughout the years. What are the patterns or habits you see in the ones who really stand the test of time in the sport?
If people get into the competitive scene, I usually feel like I’m going to keep seeing them for years to come. If competition isn’t in the cards for them, I think it’s a little more random if they’ll stick with it. If they stay with the sport long enough to start feeling the flow state that we all learn to get into, there’s a great chance they’ll keep going. There are other ways to achieve a state of actually living in only this moment, but skydiving is an exceptionally good one. I also think there’s a strong correlation between longevity in the sport and getting coaching. Usually coaching opens up a whole new world to you, where even if competition isn’t your thing, you start to see all the possibilities for you to improve.
You’re a co-host on the Krav show so you’re speaking to a lot of people in our sport. When you look back on those conversations, are there any themes or lessons that keep coming back?
Chris and I are always trying to steer the Krav podcast content to focus on safety, so that’s a deliberate topic that comes back. Angle flying also seems to be something that we visit again and again, with the tremendous popularity of the discipline coupled with (what feels like) a dearth of structure. I never want to be a place where fun goes to die, but I feel that continuing to talk about angle flying and some of the basic rules to keep yourself and others safe is a needed conversation.
What part of leadership work that you’ve done in the sport has challenged or grown you the most?
Being involved with the background of the HU and HD world records has been challenging over the years. I’m getting a break on this HD record, not being involved nearly as much as years past, which is a welcome relief. There are a ton of moving parts and egos, and trying to put my own ego aside and help manage that was a huge challenge. Cutting people from the last couple records put me in tears by the end of the events, and I won’t miss that at all this year.
Is there any shift in the culture of skydiving right now that you’d like to see, safety or otherwise?
Last year was the fewest fatalities in the US, I believe since they started keeping records. That’s great to see. I don’t know if this year will be able to keep us on that track, but again it’s great that we’re moving in that direction. I also think that the boogie scene has changed quite a bit since I started going to them, and I like the change. Most of the ones I went to as a young jumper seemed to be at least as focused on the party as the jumping (many times more focused on the party) and since I’ve never been too big in the party scene, that was a tough balance for me. I think the culture has changed that people today want to get something out of their boogie, they want to be a better flyer when they leave, more knowledgeable and safe. I think there will always be the party, but I’m happy to see the shift of the daytime mentality. When Rook asked me to take over the FF LO scene during Summerfest, I applied that feeling to my part of the boogie, and I think people have responded really well. Every day is a mini camp, and no matter what group you’re in, you’ll be leaving the event with more skills and more knowledge, and hopefully be a safer jumper. Those are changes I think are already happening. A change I would like to see in the future would be a more widely circulated and developed system to keep angle fly groups (and the groups on the plane with them) safe. I believe Tex is working on exactly that, and I look forward to seeing implementation on a national or worldwide level.
What keeps you motivated to keep refining after 23,000+ jumps?
I’m still alive, and I hope the motivation to improve will continue as long as that’s true. Also, I’ve gotten pretty good at 1 discipline in skydiving. There are so many directions I could go and continue to improve. Even if I just continue with VFS, in my opinion it’s the most challenging thing in skydiving, and there are constantly things I can be improving. I honestly don’t know where the motivation comes from, only that it’s been there as long as I can remember, and I love it.
What does great flying feel like to you these days. What are you chasing now?
Great flying is, generally, training with my team. The guys we have on the team now have the potential to be faster than any team in history. I’m looking forward to the feeling of flying at the absolute edge of my ability.
If you could go back and give year-1 Jason one piece of advice, what would it be?
Being on a team is difficult. For years, a lot of that difficulty was me. If I thought that the me of 23 years ago would listen to the advice, it would be that I needed to stop being so hard on my teammates. I wanted to win so badly and I think I used it as an excuse to be, for lack of a better word, an asshole. That made for a very tough team environment. Luckily our camera flyer in Dubai was a great friend, and he was not scared to tell me the difference between me as a teammate and me as a friend. It was the real start of the pathway to being a better teammate, a road I’m still traveling. I don’t know if the advice would create changes the way the experiences have, but that’s what I’d say.
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