Walking on Clouds: SkyDiving in Vibram Five Fingers KSOs

Before I started swooping, I jumped barefoot, and if I still did I would definitely wear my KSOs. After introducing some skydiving friends to the FiveFingers (which I wear to strengthen my feet for ultrarunning), they went out and bought their own and now they jump in them, hence the picture from this weekend. …

The picture was taken above Skydive Delmarva in Laurel, DE. I have a video and a still camera mounted on my helmet, so when I am out there in a group making formations (in this case we were “freeflying”, or flying vertically, to make our formations), I sometimes get interesting pictures like this one. I purposefully was trying to get a close-up shot of his feet in freefall since he was wearing his KSOs and the sky was looking extra nice that day. I’m pleased with the end result. Kinda gives a new perspective on the whole “freedom” aspect of VFFs.

High performance landing in skydiving is called “swooping” and basically involves initiating a hook-turn that builds up speed so you “swoop” across the ground at 60mph or so, just inches above. Sometimes needing to put a foot down as a brake, and with divots in the landing area, I am more comfortable with regular shoes for jumping just in case.