The Lunatic Fringe Podcast

For most people, making the decision to start a static line course is an accomplishment all on its own, but for some, you aren’t showing real dedication to pursuing a new experience until you’ve driven across multiple African countries to start it! Just ask Erin Shutes, who did exactly that. Working around the world in the field of epidemiology and doing her best to help those most in need,  it became clear to Erin that finding a balance to such intense work required equally intense play. Skydiving and then later BASE jumping fit that bill to perfection, and she has been embracing both sports and their respective communities ever since. A heartfelt member of the Lunatic Fringe in every respect, Erin embodies what it means to be a lifelong member, friend, and partner to some of the most passionate people around.

Gorazd Lah, AKA Nitka (and fellow Fuckinasshole) took a very European, and more specifically an Eastern European path in skydiving. Starting out on round parachutes then moving quickly into the world of Style and Accuracy, Gorazd managed to put his tough as nails upbringing and exterior to work for him as he became a champion in his chosen disciplines. Yet...  There's a lot more behind this born again hipster than you might think! Nitka is beyond a doubt a poster child for not judging a book by its cover, and it's one of the reasons why you'll enjoy the hell out of this edition of Lunatic Fringe.

Working hard at an incredibly demanding job, Andreas Mosling was looking for a way to entertain himself on vacation without killing himself in party mode, so at the almost offhand suggestion of a colleague he booked himself a trip to Sebastian, Florida and signed up for AFF. He completed the entire course in one day. The next day he basically doubled his jump numbers, and by the time he left Florida he was well on his way to his B license. And that was enough. For the next year he didn't really give skydiving much of a thought at all. He had pretty much crossed it off his list, until... Now, many years and many thousands of jumps later, with championship medals and world travel to his credit, airsports and all that the word now encompasses has happily become his Lunatic Fringe way of life.

Back in the can to talk about his continuing adventures in all things airsports, paragliding, and more, the one and only Jason Moledzki!

Skydiving beginnings aren't always blue skies and sunshine as Jason Moledzki can tell you. Sometimes the drive to make that first jump can come from a truly dark place, but it was a place that Jason found the drive and determination to escape through his love of skydiving and BASE. A multiple world champion dozens of times over with world records and accomplishments in competition too long to list, he and his crew were a major driving force in the advancement not only of canopy piloting and its flight out of infancy, but in competition itself. As the co-founder and creative director of Flight-1, Jason has been instrumental in the complete overhaul of canopy instruction both in the civilian and military skydiving world with incredible student numbers going through their courses each year. on top of that, he is the co-creator/host of his own podcast called Trust the Journey with Melanie Curtis offering inspiration and insight along our journey deep within the Lunatic Fringe.  

The son of a world traveling diplomat, it was perhaps a childhood filled with fairly constant change and a need to adapt that made it easy for Max Lesziak. Easy to decide as he was about to tackle a fairly intense college environment that he should perhaps take a break for... well, for a while. It may have had something to do with the fact that he had the tendency to get bored easily, or it may have been yet again, that first skydive. Hooked almost from the get go, it went rather quickly from packing mat, to two years doing  tandems, then video and then eventually to competition canopy piloting. Oh, and just to add a touch of spice, wingsuit BASE. Now, it's a mix not only of the work side of skydiving, but venturing into new territory as he uses his skills in camera flying to pass on the knowledge, the drive he gets through competition, and the rather unquenchable charge of a well executed BASE jump that keeps Max deep within the Lunatic Fringe. 

It's been 4 years since we said goodbye to one of the greatest in his field, and it's well worth looking back at just a few of the stories and experiences of the one and only Jarno Cordia.

From a young age he was drawn to air sports, and skydiving in particular, but having an uncle who'd broken his back landing a round years before, it would have been easy for Jarno Cordia to watch his dreams of flying stay nothing more than childhood fantasy; but his desire to get in the air was much stronger than any fears he or his family may have had. After finishing school at 17 and a top notch career for the taking, he was able to use his early start in the professional world to put aside time to pursue his passion for flight both in skydiving and BASE, most specifically with wingsuiting. As has been for many a jumper, the drive to fly found a way to push career aside, and almost without thinking, he found that his passion and profession were now one in the same. With his teammate Jenna Gygi, @teamflylikebrick continued to lead him to almost every side of the Lunatic Fringe.

Pulling no punches has been Alix Raymond’s style, as anyone who knows her can tell you, and her time on the Lunatic Fringe with our returning host Mr. Zej Mski is absolutely no exception. Finishing our her term soon as the Southeast Regional Director for the USPA, she's got more than a few words to say on the sport of skydiving, the USPA as an organization with all its pitfalls and upswings, it's new leadership and more.  As a full-time "real worlder" as well as flying camera and instructing, the Director's seat not only helped to keep her more than a little busy, but gave her some insights into the Lunatic asylum that has left her with a whole lot to say!

Back to talk about everything from the closing of the ORIGINAL Flyaway Las Vegas Indoor Skydiving facility, to the EPIC races in Abu Dhabi, Ray "Ninja" Kubiak shows just how strongly his bodyflight passions run.

Total Fuckin' Ninja. In fact, I'd personally go as far as to call him not only one of the first true tunnel ninja's, but one of the prime players who has shaped modern body flight as much if not more than anyone else. Coming from humble beginnings in one of the first public tunnels in the world, Ray Kubiak went from being one of the most difficult students in the Las Vegas Flyaway tunnel to being a pioneer in teaching true human flight. Overcoming adversity and turning it not only into opportunity but in fact a blessing, Ray is the embodiment of heart and spirit in our sport, and a proper all around lunatic.

Although she didn’t know it at the time, her father’s Judo style antics throwing her around in the sand may have been exactly what started her down her extreme sports path. That being said, one could argue that Chloe Svolakos’s first foray into the world of extremes may have been working as a therapist and social worker in New York City. Through a chance encounter with a skydiver while participating in her first love jujutsu, the idea of making a skydive came up. Just as 2 follows 1, her first tandem led to AFF, and that was pretty much all she wrote. These days, her true passion lies in combining her many different worlds through Alta Psychotherapy, which she founded primarily to help extreme sports athletes deal with everything from overcoming basic fear, to coping with traumatic injury. A truly passionate member of the Lunatic Fringe community looking to help all those along their own journey.

Back in the can to talk about a pretty spectacular 2024, and what is shaping up to be an epic 2025 is JYRO's man for all things FLOCKING, Zack Rosser.

At an age when most kids are still learning to tie their shoelaces unassisted, Zack Rosser was tossing on his kid sized climbing harness so his father could take him up on a tandem paraglide session; and before he was old enough to know he had choices available to him, he'd already made his. With paragliding not as accessible in his area in Australia, his father took him out to the local DZ when he was twenty, and set him up on a tandem skydive to see if that might be a good fit. In no time at all, Zack became the DZ's "anything you need" guy, pushing hard to find his angle into the sport. It didn't take him long at all to realize the canopy side of things was exactly his fit. Working now as a tandem instructor, video guy, and primarily a canopy coach, Zack's passion for nylon has led him to everything from competition Canopy Piloting to organizing flocking dives all over Down Under, with plans to branch out to New Zealand and beyond as soon as travel allows. Bringing a youth and exuberance to everything he does, you'll understand when you listen that Zack Rosser has only just begun his path along the Lunatic Fringe.