About US | Ratings 2 U

Our Story

Team "Wade". You guessed it, a married couple! Karl is originally from Ireland and Richelle is originally from Canada. They first met when Karl conducted Richelle’s First Jump course in Kenya where Richelle was living and working at the time. They reconnected a few years later when Richelle completed both her AFF and Tandem Instructor ratings with Karl in Germany. They started working together shortly afterwards and they've been teaching students and conducting instructor rating courses together ever since!

Karl first started skydiving in Ireland over 18 years ago when he was only 20 years old. Over the years he has accumulated over 10,000 jumps, which are a combination of Tandems, AFF, Coach, Instructor Evaluation and of course, fun jumps. He became a Coach, AFF Instructor and Tandem instructor early in his skydiving career and has worked as an instructor throughout various countries in Europe, Africa, New Zealand and the United States for about 15 years. He later undertook the challenge of becoming a Instructor Examiner for Coach, AFF and Tandem Ratings as he trained and studied for three years as an intern at the most highly recognized instructional rating school in the world, Skydive Ratings, in Florida. Karl has obtained the following ratings throughout his skydive career:

USPA Coach
USPA AFF Instructor
USPA Tandem Instructor
UPT/Sigma Tandem Rating
Wings Tandem Rating
Strong Tandem Rating
Omega Tandem Rating
USPA Coach Examiner
USPA Tandem Examiner
USPA AFF Instructor Examiner
Omega Tandem Examiner

After her AFF, Richelle quickly accumulated her first 500 jumps within her first two years of skydiving making herself eligible for her USPA Coach and AFF ratings, which she completed straight away. A year later she earned her tandem rating as well. She then worked in the industry throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East building her jump numbers and her skill set as an instructor. Before long she undertook a two year internship with Karl assisting him with his instructor rating courses and once ready, attended the all-intensive Instructor Examiner Rating Course in Munich, Germany with USPA's own Tom Noonan (National Director) and Jim Crouch (Director of Safety and Training), earning a USPA Coach Examiner Rating herself.

As a highly educated woman with an extensive business background, Richelle organizes, coordinates and manages all business aspects of the Ratings2U Instructional School. Throughout her skydive career, she has already managed to obtain the following ratings:

USPA Coach
USPA AFF Instructor
USPA Tandem Instructor
Omega Tandem Rating
USPA Coach Examiner
German Senior Rigger

That said, you can usually find both of them at a drop zone somewhere around the world doing tandems, AFF or teaching one of the many instructional courses they offer. They make an incredible team and they enjoy working together. Their knowledge and experience speak for themselves and they're always willing to schedule a new course at the needs of their Candidates. Give them a shout if you'd like to set one up!

Questions?

Please feel free to contact us! We are happy to answer any questions you may have and/or to set up a course of your own!