MAGIC in the Making

What could be better than getting together with a bunch of cool friends in the heart of southern California in early October, just in time to bust up the post-national blues that many skydivers feel after a busy September?! 

What if all those friends were talented skydivers and you had the chance to jump with them in a four-plane formation and make some seriously cool formations that were pulled at random out of a big, black, top hat?!

Well now you’re just talking crazy! 

Well, welcome to P3 The Games with Patrick Passe! Nearly 70 talented skydivers converged on Skydive Perris in early October, with that very plan. The weather was about as ideal as southern California could provide, with a small chill in the morning that quickly gave way to wonderfully warm, perfect-for-skydiving conditions.  Jumpers from all over the world came together for this opportunity. 

Starting from jump one, it was evident that the formations crafted by the organizers, Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld and Patrick Passe, were going to be anything but easy. Whether it was the sequence of the build, the intricacies of the formation structure, or the dynamics of the inter movements, each jump presented to the group by the organizers required a high level of focus and detailed attention throughout both the dirt dive and the actual dive. 

Day one had the 60ish jumpers going out of three skyvans, while days two through four had more jumpers join in and added two otters in place of the third skyvan. The variety of the jumps kept the flyers on their toes, with many of them moving into positions they may rarely have the chance to experience. For instance, what if we put all the smaller, typically lighter flyers into a 16-way base, and put the larger, heavier flyers on the outside of the formation? Neither Dan and Patrick, nor the entire group of talented flyers shied away from challenges like these. 

The stellar group of camera flyers, Craig O’Brien, Bruno Brokken and Kristian Caulder, captured these amazing moments with artistry and ease. And only one of them entered the club of those who have left the plane well before the formation… I’ll let you guess who! 😉

Every few jumps, a new formation sequence would be drawn out of the hat for the group to tackle. Watching many of the transitions between the sequences came with a variety of “Ooohs” and “Aahhs” from the crowd of eager jumpers. The weather had cooled off a bit from the week prior (okay, relatively “cooled” to a high of 98F/36.6C) and the sun was out to keep the participants looking forward to a cold dip in the pool or cold drink at the end of the day. The weather was about as good as a skydiver could hope for, with gorgeous, nearly cloudless mornings and a beautiful backdrop of some big, puffy, cumulus clouds for the evening dive pictures. It was a great time had by all! 

Dan BC

For many it was the first time they had the chance to jump with Dan BC in the air for a while or even ever! (A series of hip and shoulder surgeries has had him primarily working as an enthusiastic ground-crew, organizer, formation-making machine for the majority of the last few years.) 

It was a weekend full of smiles, laughter, new friends, old family, chides, double gainers, back flips, beautiful formations, gorgeous weather, and about as much fun as you could hope to stuff into a big, black, top hat! 

We’ll wait and see what gets pulled out next year!

Video edit by Kristian Caulder, Xiancam

Coming Soon!

You can find information on other P3 big-way skydiving events on the P3website

The Games 2025 are already scheduled from October 8-11, 2025, at Skydive Perris