{"id":30056,"date":"2020-12-08T17:50:28","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T17:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=30056"},"modified":"2020-12-09T10:07:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T10:07:48","slug":"cypres-save-pete-serafimovskis-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/cypres-save-pete-serafimovskis-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Cypres Save: Pete Serafimovski’s story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pete Serafimovski, 48 years old, has been jumping since 2003. He’s racked up more than 1,300 jumps without any kind of reserve incident \u2014 until the first jump of the season… <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A happy Pete enjoying the jump
Photo by Karen Aguilar J<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On 5th May 5th 2109, Pete not only had his first-ever reserve ride, it was via CYPRES. His life could have been reduced to a statistic otherwise. Here\u2019s his CYPRES story in his own words….<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Weekend warrior<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“I\u2019m just a regular guy. A weekend warrior. I have my own business, and a family and I don\u2019t get out very much. I come out a couple times a month.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I didn\u2019t jump at all during the winter. I didn\u2019t get a chance to travel away to jump in the warm weather. Sometime towards the end of September \u2014 or maybe the beginning of October \u2014 was my last jump, so I sat around all winter, working, and didn\u2019t jump anywhere. Then the season finally came, and the weather was good. I came out to do a jump. I was kind of rusty.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I had bought a new rig the season before. It\u2019s a little shorter on my back than my old rig was. It\u2019s a little higher and a little tighter. I had a problem trying to get back to my hackie. On this particular jump I was stiff and out of practice, too; I hadn\u2019t stretched. Looking back on it, I should have stretched a bit more.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pete, photo by Jules Royale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

THE Jump<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“The first jump we did was at 18,000 feet: a high-altitude, a two-way freefly jump. I did not do my emergency procedures before I got on the plane, and I feel like I didn\u2019t plan the jump as much as I should have.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Anyway, we did our thing. We had a good jump. We broke off at our normal 5,500\u2019. We got a good separation. I waved off at about 3,900\u2019 and went back to reach my hackie. I couldn\u2019t reach it. I kept going for it and going for it. Nothing worked. I took way too long.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t even think about going for my reserve”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“I didn\u2019t even think about going for my reserve. I think that\u2019s because it was my first time having to use my reserve, and I always thought my first reserve ride was going to be a cutaway. The fact that this was straight to reserve came out of left field. I didn\u2019t panic. I wasn\u2019t even really worried about it. I was like, \u201cHang on, I\u2019ve almost got it.\u201d But I think as I was doing that, I was going head-down, so I was speeding up and I had less time than I thought I did.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tried to reach back with my other hand and push my rig over so I could grab the handle. Doing that rolled me over on my back. As I did so, the first thing I thought about was that my CYPRES was definitely about to go off. Funny enough, that\u2019s exactly when it popped on me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing I thought about was that my CYPRES was definitely about to go off. Funny enough, that\u2019s exactly when it popped on me”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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