Returning After a Break: ENAC Recency Requirements and the Back-in-Currency Procedure

Wondering whether your ENAC licence is still current after months — or years — without jumping? Maybe you stopped because of an injury, work, or family commitments. Maybe you just let one winter slide into the next, and now you're staring at the rig hanging in the closet with a mix of excitement and unease. You're not alone: returning after a period of inactivity is one of the most critical moments in an experienced skydiver's career, precisely because those with 200 or 500 jumps tend to underestimate how quickly skills fade — faster than most people think.

This article is written for those of you who already have a history in the air and want to understand exactly where you stand from a regulatory perspective, what ENAC requires of you, and how to structure your return properly. No empty reassurances: skydiving is an activity with managed risk, and managing it well means starting with the facts.

ENAC Recency Requirements: The Three Thresholds to Keep in Mind

The ENAC 'Skydiving Licences' regulation (Ed. 3) defines the minimum conditions for keeping a licence current — meaning active and usable without the need for check jumps. There are three cumulative thresholds, and all three must be met simultaneously:

1. At least 15 jumps in the past 12 months.
2. Of which at least 1 jump in the past 3 months.
3. At least 10 minutes of freefall (the free-flight phase before canopy opening) in the past 12 months.

In addition, there is a permanent requirement:
4. A valid ENAC Class 2 medical certificate, issued by an authorised ENAC medical examiner — not your GP, and not a generic sports medicine physician.

Here's a concrete example. Mario has 340 jumps and is a solid freeflyer with a CS rating (Certificazione di idoneità a Tecniche Speciali — the ENAC rating that authorises specific disciplines such as freefly). He jumped regularly until October, then had knee surgery and stopped. The following July he wants to return. Nine months have passed since his last jump: Mario is out of currency on the 3-month threshold, and most likely on the 15-jumps-in-12-months threshold as well. His Class 2 medical certificate may also have expired. He needs to go through the full return procedure — he cannot simply show up at the drop zone and get on a load.

When Your Licence Lapses: Three Inactivity Scenarios

It's worth distinguishing three inactivity scenarios, because the return procedure varies depending on how much time has passed and how many jumps are missing:

SCENARIO A — Short break (1–3 months, sufficient recent jumps)
If you've jumped enough in the past 12 months to meet the 15-jump and 10-minute freefall thresholds, but your last jump was more than 3 months ago, you're only out of currency on the quarterly threshold. The return process is generally more straightforward, but it still depends on the instructor's assessment and the school's policy. Check your medical certificate regardless.

SCENARIO B — Medium break (3–12 months)
In this case, you've likely missed both the total jump count and the quarterly window. Returning requires check jumps with an instructor; the number and structure are determined by the ENAC-certified school based on your stated experience level and an in-flight assessment.

SCENARIO C — Long break (over 12 months, or years)
Skill degradation is significant: procedural memory for emergency procedures, canopy traffic awareness in the landing pattern, airspace management, and freefall awareness — especially if you were used to fast disciplines like freefly (head-down, sit-fly), where altitude is consumed more quickly than in belly flying. The return is structured as a genuine refresher programme, which some schools offer as a formal 'return-to-jumping course' with multiple ground and in-air sessions.

The Return Procedure: Step by Step

Here is the correct sequence — the one I recommend following without skipping steps, even if you have 500 jumps and feel confident in yourself:

STEP 5 — Check Jumps
The number of check jumps with an instructor depends on the school's assessment. There is no universal fixed number: ENAC regulations leave this to the discretion of the certified school. The number can vary considerably based on your specific situation — length of inactivity, prior experience level, physical and mental condition — and it is the school that determines this on a case-by-case basis: don't expect a predetermined programme. During these jumps, the instructor evaluates: stability on exit, altitude awareness (pull altitude — the altitude at which you open your canopy), landing pattern management, and flare (the final control input on landing).

Skill Degradation: What You Actually Lose, and in What Order

This is the point experienced skydivers resist most, so I'll be direct: skills in skydiving degrade — and they degrade in an order that isn't intuitive.

The first to go are emergency procedures, because these are sequences you never practise under real conditions and that require automatic responses under high stress. Next come canopy traffic awareness during canopy flight — the landing pattern with other skydivers demands anticipation and quick decisions — and altitude management in freefall, especially if you were used to fast disciplines like freefly (head-down, sit-fly), where altitude is consumed more quickly than in a stable belly position. The physical, body-level motor skills in freefall hold up a little longer, but they deteriorate too.

Luisa, a skydiver with 680 jumps and a CS freefly rating, took 14 months off for a pregnancy. On her return she completed 4 check jumps with an instructor before being declared current again. She said the third jump was the hardest: 'I thought I'd got everything back by the second jump — and then on the third I made a stupid mistake in the landing pattern. Better to have done it with the instructor right there.' That's a return done properly.

CS Ratings: Watch Out for the Additional Requirements

If you held one or more CS ratings before your break (Certificazioni di idoneità a Tecniche Speciali — the ENAC ratings for specific disciplines such as wingsuit, canopy formation, freefly, and angle flying), be aware that these also carry their own recency requirements, separate from those of the base licence. ENAC regulations set specific thresholds for each CS: check with your school which requirements apply to your rating and whether a dedicated return programme is needed for that discipline, not just for the general licence.

For example: if you hold a CS wingsuit rating and have been inactive for 18 months, you cannot simply complete the basic check jumps and then put on the suit. Wingsuit flying has a specific risk profile — high horizontal speed, managing deployment with your arms inside the suit, extended landing patterns — that requires a dedicated return process, typically with a qualified wingsuit instructor.

Pre-Return Checklist: Print It Out and Use It

☐ Logbook up to date with all jumps in the past 12 months
☐ Jump count past 12 months: ≥ 15?
☐ Jump count past 3 months: ≥ 1?
☐ Freefall minutes past 12 months: ≥ 10 min?
☐ Valid ENAC Class 2 medical certificate
☐ Rig inspected by a certified rigger (if inactive for more than 6 months)
☐ AAD: date of last service verified, no expired deadlines
☐ Reserve: date of last repack verified (repack intervals are set by the manufacturer and applicable regulations — check the specific expiry for your system with a certified rigger)
☐ Contact with an ENAC-certified school for assessment and check jumps
☐ Emergency procedure briefing completed with an instructor
☐ Check jumps completed and signed off by the instructor in the logbook
☐ For active CS ratings: discipline-specific recency verified

In Summary: Returning Is Not a Formality — It's a Quality Choice

ENAC regulations set the minimum recency thresholds — 15 jumps/12 months, 1 jump/3 months, 10 minutes of freefall/12 months, valid Class 2 medical — but a real return to jumping is far more than a numbers exercise. It's the conscious decision to get your skills back in order before returning to the sky alongside others. The ENAC-certified school is your mandatory point of reference: not for bureaucratic reasons, but because it has the tools to assess where you actually are — not where you think you are.

With 3,100 jumps behind me, I've seen returns done badly — by people with 800 jumps who felt they were above the process — and returns done well, with humility and method, that brought solid skydivers back to the air. The difference isn't in the total jump count: it's in the attitude you bring when you walk through the school door. I always encourage everyone to check the current version of the ENAC regulations directly at enac.gov.it or through their school, as the regulatory details may be updated periodically.