The Lunatic Fringe Podcast

20 years is a long time for any profession, but especially when its one as physically demanding as working with concrete. Having made his first tandem skydive years back, Grey Milner thought it was just about the most amazing thing he’d ever experienced and was ready to go all in, but as it has a way of doing, life got in the way. It wasn’t until not so long ago that he found himself back in the air on tandem number two, and just ...

At 13, Sydney was the youngest tunnel coach out there; and although she's not much on bragging about her skills and doesn't really share what she does with her classmates at school, she's got her eyes on being a world champion, and has a pretty good handle on just how good she really is. Soccer Mom and Dad to be sure, but on a whole new level are Sydney's parents Michelle and Andrew. As a retired skydiver himself, Andrew loves seei...

A Kiwi born and raised, Antz Hansen had been around aviation from a very young age, so when the daydream of making a skydive finally presented itself, the outcome wasn't quite as he'd expected.  As it turned out, round parachutes weren't his thing...  But then, after he'd already established himself as a professional photographer, the chance to try the new "Square" design presented itself, and boom! Working behind the lens his enti...

Intimidated by the sport. In his own words "lacking natural talent"...  Words that only Ernesto Gainza would use to describe himself because nobody I know would use anything other than "Calculated" or "Driven". Maybe "Forward Thinking" or even "Fucking Crazy" (that was me...).  Currently holding the record for the smallest canopy every landed, the man has taken on challenges that very few ever would, and he's done them with success...

At 17 he knew. Well, he knew after he talked his mother into signing the release anyway. Marat Leiras showed his dedication to the sport of skydiving almost right away with a 400 kilometer drive one way to the dropzone just to get through AFF. With some serious skill, some wonderful luck and a whole lot of great timing, Marat managed to travel the world, train and jump with some of the best the sport had to offer and even marry the...

From a very early age, Dave Singer knew exactly what he wanted, which was exactly what most other 8 year olds do. A sewing machine... wait, what? Okay, so Dave may not have taken the more traveled road, but it the path that he was absolutely sure he was suppose to be on. From military jumper and rigger, to civilian camera flyer and eventually on to the Mecca of the times for cutting edge skydiving in Perris Valley, Dave never had a...

With beginnings in the sport rooted in tragedy, Nicole Ludvik turned to skydiving as a way to escape a crazy corporate life and personal hardship by hitting every one of the fifty states from above.  An accomplished AFF and Tandem instructor, she's traveled the world with her husband and significant other, professional swooper and instructor extraordinaire Mr. David "Junior" Ludvik, and you can damn well bet she's got stores to tel...

So yeah... A charmed if not short career in skydiving is exactly what Mandy Curry had. Stumbling into amazing situations and lucking her way into rubbing elbows with skydiving royalty, she can't help but look back at her time in the sport with rose colored glasses! A mother of two on a vastly different trajectory, Mandy takes the time to sit and reminisce with me about trips to Eloy, landing on glaciers, guns and death threats in ...

From the top of his game with multiple US National and World championship titles under his belt, to wondering if walking would ever again be an option, the journey Nick Batsch has been on over the last three years is a tough one to imagine. Years of training and top level athletic reflexes turned a landing that could have just as easily taken his life into the challenge of a lifetime, pushing Nick to work not only toward the physic...

Multiple lives all rolling after and on top of the other.  Mitch Steere, software engineer, father of 2 teenage daughters.  Mitch Steere, sliding off a motorcycle at triple digits, dirty downwind on his first jump, downsize demon. Mitch Steere, building a full database on how to perform beautiful flock dives with as much safety and precision as possible. Having come through his truly "sketch" times with the help of a great mentor, ...

Matt Gerdes and Mike Steen of Squirrel Wingsuits may not have set out to reshape the face of BASE jumping and skydiving, but it seems they may have gone about doing exactly that. With a ton of paragliding experience under their belts, their single minded goal soon became BASE jumping and wingsuit BASE; and in pursuing their lofty and dangerous dream ended up designing their own line of cutting edge wingsuits and BASE specific equip...

Right out the gate she was breaking the rules in skydiving!  Drawn into the sport with family, jumping instantly took over her drive and motivation, and it's led her to multiple records, world travels and skills both in the sky and in the tunnel that most will aspire to but rarely achieve. Naomi Kotzee is a highly sought after instructor, coach and organizer, and because she's one of my closest friends in the sport, she's now no lo...

Only in the sport for 4 years, Dario Basile's time in both skydiving and BASE has made quite an impact in his life, and those that he meets. From A license to D, this base jumping, bull running, world traveling Tandem Instructor from Sussex NJ is absolutely going to let you, the guy sitting next to you and pretty much everyone else in earshot know that he is a skydiving, chili pepper eating high energy member of the Lunatic Fringe....

On this special edition of Lunatic Fringe, we are joined once again by Chloe of Alta Psychotherapy to begin our multi-part series called Spiked, where we begin what will be a deep dive into sports psychology in general, and more specifically in regard to skydiving and BASE—touching on everything from the mental side of personal gear checks to working through catastrophic injury, and even the day to day grind that can be a very real...

Hannah Parker PHD.  Fuck skydivers are amazing at themes (life changing course corrections), and this is one of my favorite ones by far!  Well on her way to becoming a full blown Doctor and researcher (did I mention the fuckin’ PHD?), Hannah and her friend decided to make a skydive to jazz things up a bit, at jazz it up it certainly did! Managing to finish off that PHD while fucking around at the dropzone, she gave her family the i...

DK Live! The one and only Mr. Danny Koon has got to be one of the most upbeat, positive-vibe skydivers on the planet, and this after having spent more than half his life in the sport, 25 years to be exact. Starting out in what could only be considered one of the most challenging places to learn, the high desert of Las Vegas, Danny got his start almost completely by accident. From scrubbing toilets and packing, to video, freeflying ...