Sport Skydiving at Toogoolawah
Fun Jumpers Welcome!
Ramblers drop zone at Toogoolawah is the fun jumping capital of not only Australia,
but the Southern Hemisphere! Fun jumpers are never knee-capped for tandems and
when you look closely, most loads are full of nothing but fun jumpers going
for fun jumps! Toogoolawah is a Resort for Skydivers – purpose built by
jumpers, for jumpers. It’s about Friends, Fun and Freefall!
Arguably one of the best attributes of Toogoolawah (and South Queensland)
is the fantastic weather all year round. There is never much rain due to being
an hour inland and away from the coast and the big mountain ranges. There are
big blue skies almost every day with mild winters and warm summers.
The night skies at Toogoolawah are nothing short of sensational! The big night
sky and bright stars blows the minds of overseas visitors and regular citysiders
alike. The Milky Way on a new moon night has to be seen to be believed!
Awesome Aircraft
Ramblers aircraft include 2 Cessna Caravans and a Cessna 182.
The Caravans are sensational modern, powerful, turbine aeroplanes that fly loads
to 14,000ft in around 15 minutes. The Caravans seat up to 17 jumpers and will
take off with as little as 10 jumpers on board (sometimes less!) They are comfortably
decked out with padding and carpeted floors, single point restraints and a large
door.
Quite often both Caravans are fired up for 2-plane formation loads just for
the fun of it. Why? Because we can and it’s great fun with awesome visuals!
Enjoy 32-way tracking dives and flat-fly big-ways!
Cessna Caravans were the official competition aircraft of the 2004 Australian
National Championships.
Ramblers Drop Zone at Toogoolawah is open 7 days a week, 364 days a year for
your jumping convenience. (No jumping New Years Day and some Christmas Days).
The Caravans fly mid-week; on a normal week the average is 3 Caravan loads
each day, sometimes up to 15 loads a day during organised camps. Over the weekends,
the number of loads varies, usually around 12 loads each day, up to 22 loads.
Mid-Week Jumping Action
With a number of local shift-workers, always a few visiting and students, there
is always plenty of mid-week skydiving action to be a part of, especially when
there are training camps and Learning Curve Camps on.
Weekend Jumping Action
Fun jumping is the name of the game and the weekend is full of it! With top
load organisers & coaches having fun every weekend, the fun jumping
scene at Toogoolawah could be described as healthy and progressive, definitely the best scene
in Australia! All the sport jumping and competition jumping disciplines are
happening every weekend including flat fly, free fly, big-ways, small-ways,
canopy jumps, skysurfing, b-rels, star crests, wing suits, early morning swooping
etc. and it is all happening and available for low experience level jumpers
through to the mega experienced.
Toogoolawah is a friendly place, it’s easy to get on loads, there are
plenty of loads and there is heaps of fun to choose from. New faces are always
welcome and encouraged to get in on the action! The friday night sausage sizzle
is a great way to break the ice and get ready for the weekend fun.
Regular Camps & Boogies
Ramblers hosts regular events including Learning Curve Camps, team training
camps, boogies including the Freefly Festival and Queens Birthday Boogie in
June and large international boogies such as the infamous Equinox Boogie in
October. Ramblers leads the way with skydiving events in Australia, so beware
of imitations! Check out the Calendar of Events.
Teams choose to train at Toogoolawah for a number of reasons, mostly the consistent
weather, the aircraft and the facilities. Teams are welcome to use the three
dubbing stations and there is a private Team Room available for hire. Competitive
prices are available on request.
Fun Competitions
Various fun competitions are held throughout the year, generally once a month.
Scramblers comps for flat fly and free fly are a regular event at least one
Saturday each month. Names are drawn out of a hat and the team jumps are organised
by experienced Team Captains, with each jump videoed. Three rounds are generally
completed by mid-afternoon with everybody getting together for a big-way sunset
load to celebrate the great day. Comp jumps are played on the TV and judged
at the bar by the audience clap-o-meter. Scramblers comps are all in the name
of fun, learning and getting newcomers involved. There is a “B”
License minimum. Check out the Calendar of Events. for upcoming Scramblers Comps.
Load Organisers & Coaches
Ramblers is proud to be the home drop zone of many a top-name Load Organiser
and Coach, many of whom are National Champions, even World Champions, catering
for beginner, intermediate and advanced skydivers in Formation Skydiving (flat
fly), Free Fly, Canopy Formation (CRW) and Canopy Flight.
Ramblers Freefly load organisers and coaches provide organised dives, personalised coaching
and advancement through the APF Freefly Table for beginner, intermediate and
advanced freeflyers.
Canopy Flight coaching is a speciality of Ramblers, boasting World Class canopy
pilots from CRW team “Hairspeed”. One-on-one Canopy Handling jumps
are available.
Novelty Jumps
Ramblers specialise in novelty jumps! On any given day enjoy hoop jumps, banana
crests, tube dives, pilon races, rodeo dives, wing suits, spheres, hybrids,
rafts, inflatables, wagon wheels, tracking and atmonauti
dives! Famous for Fun!
Night Jumps
Toogoolawah Drop Zone is set up for night jumping with big flood lights lighting
up the landing area, qualified pilots and strip lights.
Night jumps are a regular occurrence, once a month around the full moon throughout the year. The view of the city lights is
awesome, spanning from Toowoomba in the south-west, Brisbane to the south-east,
the Sunshine Coast to the north-east and Toogoolawah below – fairyland!
For new night jumpers there is a Night Jump Course consisting of 3 jumps and
for jumpers with a night rating there are organised fun jumps and even cameraflyers
set up for video and stills. Night star crests are available if there is enough
interest.
Night jumping equipment requirements include a small torch, a cyalume stick
and an altimeter light, all of which are available for sale at the dz shop.
There is a “C” License minimum. Check out the Calendar of Events.
for upcoming Night Jump weekends.
Safety Weekends
Skydiving is a potentially dangerous sport and in an effort to minimise risk Ramblers host
Safety Weekends once a month throughout the year. The Safety Weekends include
both a Friday night and Saturday night session for all experience level skydivers
– ie. the new jumpers and students and the mega experienced jumpers alike.
Get safe! Check out the Safety Weekend page for more details and come to as
many as you possibly can throughout the year.
Check out the safety weekends page
Equipment
Ramblers have 4 sets of modern sport equipment available for hire, ranging in
main canopy size from a 210 down to a 150. All are maintained by Ramblers Rigger
and are complete with a Cypres AAD. A yearly Gear Hire Scheme is available for
new jumpers to help out in that transitioning time.
A variety of second hand equipment is for sale in the shop and Ramblers are
dealers for a variety of quality equipment manufacturers if new custom gear
is what you are after.
Ramblers have a smorgasboard of fun toys to play with in freefall including
a hoop, an ASM freefly tube and an intermediate skysurf board. Demo Pro-Track
audible altimeters and Cookie helmets are also available to test jump.
Gear requirements for free flying include: tight closing loops on main and
reserve, no worn Velcro, no leg strap throw-aways, a tight BOC, audible altimeter
is mandatory, hard helmet is mandatory, closed shoes are mandatory and having
fun and smiling in freefall is also mandatory!
Ramblers souvenir and gear shop has everything (and more!) in stock to complete
every skydivers shopping wish list!
Rigging
Toogoolawah drop zone has an on-site Rigging Loft operating 7 days a week for
most of your rigging and packing requirements.
Jumpsuit Factory
Airsuits jumpsuits also call Toogoolawah home with a purpose-built factory.
Design your custom suits on-site.
Toogoolawah Skydivers Club Inc.
The Toogoolawah Skydivers Club is a long-running Incorporated Club with over
100 enthusiastic members. The Club is all about supporting the fun jumpers with
a strong social and jumping focus. It hosts four special Club Members Days throughout
the year with 10-jump free giveaways, cheaper jumps and free BBQ dinner. The
Club supports many of the boogies throughout the year and also supports B-Rels
and Teams with a couple of free videos. Yearly Club Membership is only
$55 per year.
The Club boasts the largest, most well-stocked fridge and coldroom in what
is the arguably the most awesome skydiving bar in Oz! The bar opens after the
sunset load and the free beer bell never seems to stop ringing! Check out the
Carton List to see for yourself! The Bar also has an awesome stereo system with
strobes, lights and a fog machine to make for excellent dance parties. Jumpers
are foosball crazy, with 2 tables and lots of action. There is also a pool table
in the Club House.
Social Scene
Skydivers are generally a very social bunch and Toogoolawah is renowned for
its fantastic atmosphere, friendly people and awesome parties! Ramblers puts
on a free sausage sizzle dinner every Friday night, everyone is welcome to pig
out! Saturday night is party night and Sunday nights are generally spent at
the local Pub for dinner. Mid-week parties are also a regular
hit!
Drop Zone Accommodation & Facilities
Toogoolawah is Australia’s greatest drop zone for facilities – a
resort for skydivers! A variety of on-site accommodation is available including
bunkhouses, caravans and cabins with ensuites. There are also plenty of shady
camping areas and powered sites for motorhomes and caravans.
Come for a day or stay for a holiday!
- To check out Toogoolawah facilities and accommodation etc, click here
- To join our email database, click here
- To view the Ramblers Video Gallery, click here
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