P3 Power Play 2024

Have you ever had that feeling where you look at a skydive plan put together by an organizer and chuckle to yourself thinking…”haha, that’s cute…they have so much confidence in us.” Only to land from the successful jump having Craig Girard’s voice screaming in your head, “That.. Was.. Awesome!!!”

That, my friends, is Power Play in a nutshell.

From all over the world, jumpers come together every June in the balmy desert of Perris, California, for what can only be described as a ‘once-a-year’ kind of jumping experience. Although this year had Dan BC rooting on the jumpers from the ground, there was no shortage of Dan BC-like positivity, fun, and challenge, filling the skies. Part of what makes Power Play such an incredible event is the chance to jump with a different organizer each day. This year’s organizers were Craig Girard, Martial Ferré, Doug Barron, and Doug Forth. Each of them brought a different flare to their planned skydives, which was matched only by the variety of camera angles they were captured on by the outstanding team of videographers: Craig O’Brien, Norman Kent, Kristian Caulder, and Carl Schwenk.

Day one involved each group having the opportunity to jump from the Skyvan, while days two and three allowed the jumpers the opportunity to jump in a formation load from two Otters. So, what did the organizers throw our way? Better yet, what didn’t they?? Giant jewels, beasty bipoles, mega in-outs, track-off cat races, bicycle formations complete with spinning wheels, four-person pin double-dutch, and it only gets more exciting from there! What gets us going even more than awesome skydives?? Why not throw in there a little competition jump with the winning group getting a free round of drinks from Doug Barron himself! 

How could it possibly get better? What about combining the whole lot of amazing organizers and jumpers for some crazy 60-way madness on Sunday. Let’s do something easy, like…I don’t know, a totally outfacing base? Even better! Let’s get everyone together in a 60-way formation and THEN have three tiers of jumpers throughout the formation simultaneously outface! But wait, what if…hear me out…we get the entire floater line on the trail plane to hold on with only their right arm, and give a bicep flex with their left arm? Hold on, Bob Bonitz is on that floater line! He is in his 70s and has a bum right shoulder!! Yeah…that happened. 

Now you are crazy-talking! Not hard enough you say? Okay, let’s up the ante. Have you ever burble hopped into a 60-person formation?! Well, a select few bad-ass jumpers can now say they most certainly have! What an amazing way to end the day and the event, with a successful signature jump on only the second attempt. The energy in the room was palpable, and the cheer that rang out with the viewing of the successful dive could be heard from the bar. 

But as amazing as the skydiving was, it was the group of people that really made the event special. There was no shortage of chatter, smiles and laughter throughout the entire event. The camaraderie between the group was like a big family reunion (the kind that you like), and as the rigs got packed up and the gear was stowed, I could only dream about Power Play 2025. Dan BC wasn’t kidding at all when he messaged me about Power Play for this year and said “…do I have some cool shit planned for you?” There’s only one thing left to say: “Heck yeah!”

Highlights Video by XianCam

Power Play is organized by P3 Skydiving at Skydive Perris