sports interview
with ariel white
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Ariel White
In this weeks sports skydiving interviews we have Ariel. Probably one of the most badass under the radar, quiet achievers you’ll ever meet! When shes not flying massive 737’s on super secret missions, youll find Ariel ripping through the skies in her hot pink wingsuit!
This is Ariel’s story and what she had to say!
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Why did you get into skydiving?
I was on a year long course in Perth and I had friends on said course that jumped already. They encouraged us to get involved so four of us on that course did our AFF together
How did you find your AFF course? What was some of the highs and some of the struggles you faced?
I found I was comfortable with the theory because it was similar to the things I was learning on pilots’ course, but I nearly got booted from AFF because of some bad decisions I made under canopy on AFF 3, that was definitely a low, and I failed a couple of stages due to my inability to control my body. But I really enjoyed the challenge and satisfaction of eventually figuring it out!
It sounds like you get to travel a lot with your job, tell us what has been your favourite skydiving destination to date?
Ah many places for many different reaosns! I have/had a soft spot for Yorke because that’s where I started. But it could be jumping into RAAF Base Amberley from a C-17, or into Eldsrslie with nothing but a toothbrush and deodorant to survive a wekeend with, or Moruya and because I have so many good memories there, or Lower Light and SA Skydiving because they’re my home now! But I think my final answer is Netheravon, where we beat the UK military flat team in a AAA conpetition .
Itās amazing that Skydiving can give you so many opportunities for travel.
Tell us more about the C-17 jumps. How did you get such an opportunity?
Yeah, it’s one of the best parts!
This was back in 2017, the boss of the RAAF Air Mobility Group (airlift and cargo), and his wife, were skydivers and he saw an opportunity to raise money for charity, show off the toys to the public, and encourage female participation in the sport all at once so he organised a day, with Women in Adventure Sports, for us to do not one, but two jumps from a C-17 onto the Air Force’s biggest base. The most mind blowing part was watching the 18ft wide rear cargo door open for the first time!
That sounds insane! What an experience! Doing so many amazing things and going to some unreal places, whatās your current goals in skydiving?
There’s so much I want to do and so little time to do it all! But at the moment my top priorities are getting back into wingsuiting and doing more camps, ws flocking and XRW (make wingsuiting great again), and getting my ws coach and instructor ratings. I love teaching and I’d recommend anyone with an interest to pursue it!
I can confirm XRW is pretty awesome! Look forward to seeing some more epic progression from yourself! If you could give any advice to yourself when you started skydiving, what would it be?
No one is awesome at skydiving at first, it’s okay to suck a little. And get on as many camps and training days as possible!
Who should we interview next?
The top bloke all around good guy, NICK DAY
Awesome!!! Nice one Ariel. š¤