Five seats, a small group, every other load, and time to pack in between. What decides the day, and why no number is ever guaranteed.
Every skydiver who reads “unlimited jumps” asks the same thing next: okay, but how many will I actually get?
That’s the right question, so here’s the straight answer, and then the part that matters more.
On a MyDive retreat you jump as much as weather, aircraft, daylight and operating conditions allow. There’s no jump ticket and no count you’re working down. No number is guaranteed, and MyDive won’t pretend otherwise — anyone who promises you a jump count hasn’t met the weather.
What we can tell you is what a good day looks like, and what turns one into a long lunch.
The Red Rocket carries five jumpers.
A MyDive retreat is capped at 15. A typical group is around ten, and at that size you’re on every other load.
That rhythm turns out to be the best part of the day. You exit, fly your canopy, land, and walk back with your canopy over your arm. Then you pack, with your own space, no call coming in five minutes and nobody standing over you. By the time your rig’s closed and you’ve had some water, the airplane is on its way back down for your group.
At a busy dropzone, the hard part of a big jump day is often the ground: manifest, the packing mat, the next call. On a retreat, the ground is part of the trip. The landing area is where you’re staying, and the next load is coming back for the same small group it came for last time.
Four things, and only one of them is ours to control.
Weather. Wind, cloud and visibility decide whether anyone goes up at all. Desert and mountain weather both like to change their minds in the afternoon. Some days the window opens at first light and stays open. Some days it’s a long breakfast and a window at four.
Daylight. The day ends when the light does. Where terrain and conditions allow, night jumping may be part of a retreat. When it is, it’s planned and briefed as its own event, not as a couple of extra loads squeezed in after sunset.
The aircraft. A retreat runs on one airplane. Every load climbs, drops and comes back down before the next one boards, and at altitude the climb is the long part of the cycle. Fuel, and the time it takes to get it, are part of the day too.
The ground. That means the landing area, the people reading it before each load, and getting everyone back between loads. If the ground isn’t right, nobody goes, however good the sky looks.
Here’s the part people don’t expect.
When the weather holds you on a dropzone weekend, you’re sitting in a hangar you’ve sat in a hundred times, deciding whether to drive home. When it holds you on a retreat, you’re already where you came to be. You’re in the Utah desert, with the people you came to jump with, the food is handled and your tent is a short walk away.
And when the window opens, there’s no drive. You’re kitted up and on the first load while the wind sock is still settling.
Every MyDive retreat page puts the same qualifier next to “unlimited”: jump as much as weather, aircraft, daylight and operating conditions allow. It isn’t small print. It’s an honest description of how skydiving works anywhere, and you should know it before you book, not after.
The rest is the sky’s call. Most days it’s a generous one.
How many jumps can I make on a MyDive retreat?
As many as weather, aircraft, daylight and operating conditions allow. There is no fixed number and no guaranteed count.
How many people go up on each load?
Five. Retreats are capped at 15 jumpers, and a typical group of around ten means you’re on every other load.
Do I have time to pack between jumps?
Yes. Flying every other load leaves time to pack between your jumps.
What happens if the weather is bad?
Jumping stops until conditions allow. Each retreat page sets out how weather is handled for that trip.