Striving to surpass your expectation in customer care and safety, we have adopted a Quality Assurance Program throughout every aspect of our operations including, but not limited to, our hiring standards, staff training and continued development, and our equipment and aircraft maintenance, that far exceeds the industry standards.
There are many aspects to consider every season we open our doors at Skydive Vancouver Island to ensure we provide the best possible skydive experience! Over the years we have established practices in all areas of our operations that focus on safety and customer care. Many activities in our lives, like driving cars, have inherent risks but we minimize these risks every day to ensure safe results. We put winter tires on our cars or even chains on when we head up to the ski hill. We put our seat belts on before driving and hopefully we even put our phones down to minimize distractions. Skydiving is no different, it comes with its risks. However, there are many ways to prevent skydive injuries and at Skydive Vancouver Island we take those actions very seriously.
Skydive Vancouver Island is a member of the Canadian Sport Parachuting Association (CSPA) which governs skydiving in Canada. We also use the best Tandem Skydiving gear on the market - Sigma Equipment through United Parachute Technologies (UPT). Our friends at Parachute Voltige wrote a great blog "Tandem Skydiving Equipment" that included a message from UPT General Manger that speaks to the Sigma Tandem Equipment that's well worth the read if you want to learn more about the gear we use.
Becoming a Tandem Instructor is a career path that skydivers often don't just decide to do overnight. There are many requirements that a Tandem Instructor had to fulfill before they could strap on their first customer! Tandem Instructor Certification is regulated in Canada by the equipment manufacturers (such as Sigma). The entry level requirements for Sigma are:
1. Minimum of 500 skydives
2. Minimum of three (3) years in the sport
3. You must have a Coach Rating from the Coaching Association of Canada
4. You must have a "C" Certificate of Proficiency from CSPA
5. You must successfully pass the manufacturers training program
6. You must have a current Medical
7. You must adhere to the annual re-currency requirements
So as you can see it is a decision a skydiver makes with great consideration.
At Skydive Vancouver Island, we believe quality experience as a Tandem Instructor is very valuable in our every day operations. We know that you are trusting our Instructors to give you the best possible experience. With this is mind, we review every skydive we do to look for opportunities for improvement, we complete annual Continuing Education with our Tandem Instructors and also offer Flight One Tandem Canopy Training. Flight One is considered to be the preeminent canopy training company world wide. These training tools are designed with the customer in mind. Our goal is to create the best possible Skydiving Experience for you.
Customer service is also a very key attribute that we look for in anyone joining our team. From the moment you walk through our door and are greeted by manifest, to the reassurance as you watch our ground crew packing your parachute and the pilot preparing the plane; the comfort you get as you get geared up and receive instructions from your Tandem Instructor about the awesome experience you'll have on your skydive, and even behind the scenes knowing that our aircraft maintenance team ensure our aircraft exceeds commercial operation requirements as directed by Transport Canada, the only thing that you have to worry about is letting yourself enjoy the most empowering, exhilarating, serene moment of your life!
www.skydivevancouverisland.com