Frontier Skydivers in Niagara County, NY. I also jump in Burnaby, Ontario on occasion.

I go way, way back to the days of static line progressions for students, and round T-10 canopies (huge but steerable, at least theoretically.) Ground school used to be several weekends before you even got near a plane. They don't teach that way anymore. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. The equipment has made quantum improvements, so it's much easier for a newbie to get started, and the auto deployment devices have made recreational rigs a lot safer. But back in the day, you actually learned about wind drift, cross breezes, and reading the wind at different levels. Those of us who were around in the old days and transitioned to the newer equipment and schools of thought are dropping out of the sport as age takes its toll. If you have some real old goats around your DZ, learn something from them before they stop coming around, especially if they're the old instructor/jumpmaster type, with a few thousand jumps in their logbooks.

A great book to read, if you can still find it somewhere, is "United We Fall," which will give you a good idea of relative work back in the day. Maybe Amazon or someplace else?

Bio38, are you doing a tandem progression, and actually learning to skydive? Or is this just something you want to do once in a blue moon?