Hi, my name is Lance, and I’m a skydiving addict! It’s been exactly 2 days and 19 hours since my last fix and I’m getting serious withdrawal’s – I like to call this “Altitude Sickness”
I live and jump in Durban, South Africa and needless to say, skydiving here is not quite what it is in the US and the rest of the world. Yes – It IS as awesome and as addictive as it is everywhere else in the world, but it is not as “Big” here as it is everywhere else…but hey – that just means I can get on more loads!
I’ve currently only got 39 jumps under my belt and am about to start (this weekend) my free fly training for my CAT II & III (Super excited).
I guess you could say that skydiving is in my blood – My parents actually met skydiving in Ohio, although my mom decided it wasn’t for her after landing in a tree, my dad went on to do 600 odd jumps and get his D-License.
I am very grateful to my dad for marrying a US Citizen, because it means that I am also a US citizen which would allow me to travel and jump in the USA without having to worry about visa’s THANKS DAD!
I love skydiving life! Skydiving has completely taken over my world and only skydivers ACTUALLY understand how addictive it is, and why it’s pretty much the only thing I talk about!
Anyway, I am very excited about being able to write for Skydive Addiction and give my insight into the skydiving life in my part of the world.
“It’s the closest you’ll ever get to God.” I guess my story begins with this quote from the movie Point Break, a film my friend and I watched incessantly and memorized line for line when we weren’t slingin’ drinks behind the bar together back in the early 90’s. In our early 20’s at the time, with an abundance of adrenaline and a deficit of good sense, we’d reaffirm our commitment to jump together one day each time we’d watch the exciting but (as I now realize) unrealistic skydiving scene from the movie. At the time, it seemed as sure to happen as the sun rising each day.
Fast forward to Fall of 2009. Guess what? Life happened. My buddy was living his and I was living mine, and our joint skydive had not occurred in either during the 16+ years since we’d gone our separate ways. The friendship was still solid and we’d usually talk several times a year, but the skydiving promise was rarely mentioned. My birthday was coming up in November, and I wanted to do a little something different for this one. After striking up a conversation with a friend at my favorite cigar bar one afternoon, the topic came up. She’d done a tandem. Twice! Absolutely loved it both times. I told her I’d always wanted to, but just never got around to it. By the time I left that evening, I was seriously considering it. As wonderful as the idea of jumping with my buddy seemed, I realized that if it hadn’t happened in over 16 years, it probably wasn’t going to, so this was something I was going to have to do on my own. Looking back, I must also admit that there may have been a bit of midlife crisis at play here too…..a small epiphany of sorts. “I’m not getting any younger. I’m in good shape for my age, and most of my friends are in a different place in life right now. Carpe Diem motherfucker. It’s now or never” I’d tell myself. So over the next week, I made peace with the fact that I may actually be able to do it. I researched the specifics and began to wonder if I really had the balls to jump out of a plane. After wrestling with myself for a bit longer, I decided that my 42nd birthday would be like no other. I was going to do it. Now….how to tell those near and dear to me! Freda, my significant other, reacted with a great deal of concern, but to her credit, never discouraged me. She explained that her concern was out of love and for my safety, but if that’s what I wanted to do, go for it. My parents both reacted in a much calmer way than I thought. My mother even stated, “Well, I always thought you’d do something like that.” My father was actually quite intrigued by the idea. I was shocked….but in a pleasant way, knowing I wouldn’t have to carry the additional burdens of disapproval of loved ones up and then down with me. So it was decided. I called Skydive The Farm in Rockmart, Ga., and set up a tandem on my birthday, a Saturday in November. I was really going to do it!
The next 5 or 6 weeks seemed to drag out. I continued reading and learning about what I was about to experience. My heart would race when I’d watch videos and think of how it must be to fall from 14000 feet. One weekend, two weeks before I was scheduled to jump, we were at a Halloween party and I mentioned what I was planning to do. A friend, upon hearing what I was planning to do, immediately said he would do it with me. I called bullshit, and he said “No really, I’m serious. I’ve always wanted to do it.” I looked at his wife, who nodded in agreement. So he committed, and we were set to do it together. Now I didn’t have to go it alone! There were daily texts between us. 10 days….6 days….3 days. Finally, it was time!
My Dad and I arrived at the DZ bright and early on the Saturday morning of my birthday. My friend and his wife met us there. Freda opted to not come and watch, but did choose to receive a phone call upon my landing safely! We were pretty much the first ones there and didn’t really know where to go, but a regular got there about the same time and directed us to the office. We walked in and found someone sleeping on the couch. Immediately the thoughts began to race through my mind. “I don’t know about this. What kind of place lets people sleep on the couch? This doesn’t look very professional to me. Is the guy sleeping going to be the one I jump with?” All sorts of other thoughts raced through my mind as I looked around. I now realize that this is just a part of life at most dropzones, but at the time it was a little unnerving when mixed with all my other thoughts and feelings. Nevertheless, things started coming to life. We read and signed the waiver forms, which as most of you know, can be quite an experience in itself. We then watched a video of what we were getting ready to do. Soon after, we were led into the hangar and given our choice of who we could jump with. They asked me first, and pointed around to a few people. One of the guys was sleeved out in tattoos, had hoop pierced ears, etc. I saw him and said “That’s my guy.” His name was Ryan…..a 23-year-old skydiving badass that completely looked the part for what I wanted to associate with my skydiving experience. We met, and he began telling me all the specifics about what to do during the skydive. We got all rigged up, took a few pictures, and it was off to the bus to head to the airport, only about 10 minutes away. It was starting to get real now!
The 10 minute ride to the airport was pretty quiet and uneventful. I asked Ryan a few questions, and while friendly enough, he wasn’t overly chatty. Others were talking, joking and whatnot. I particularly remember several people commenting on the fact that one of the other tandem instructors had recently lost a good bit of weight. “Yeah, that meth’s a helluva a drug,” he said. It was obviously a joke, and brought out a good chuckle among everyone. It was a nice way to ease the tension, but before I knew it, we were pulling up to the plane. My heart began to beat faster, my mouth got dry, and my palms got sweaty. We departed the bus and my video guy did another quick little piece before we boarded. We filed into the plane and took our seats. The pilot started the engines and the fumes filled the cabin. They were really strong…..so much that they had to open the door so everyone could breathe! We took off and began the climb to altitude. There was one hop ‘n’ pop, so at about 5000, the red light came on and the door slid up. When I felt that cold air and looked out into the sky, that’s when it really started to hit me. Next thing I knew, a guy took his position in the door, faced forward, and just hopped out. There one second, gone the next. Holy Shit!!! It was shockingly surreal. In my head, for the first time I was saying “What the fuck are you doing?” The video guy was filming and turned to me to get my reaction. “Hey Allan! What do think about that? Did you see that guy get sucked out of here?” I commented, and he then said “Okay, next time that door opens, it’s your turn. Skydiving baby.” So we got to 14000 and the door opened. People, and groups of people, started jumping out. We were towards the end, and my buddy went just before me. We got to the door and I looked down. It was literally breathtaking in the truest sense of the word. I have never had such clarity of life as I did at that moment. I couldn’t believe what I was about to do. Before I knew it, we rolled out of the plane doing forward flips…..two to be exact. We got belly down and stable, and the drogue was deployed. I immediately began screaming. Not a terrifying scream, but more of an “I just jumped out of a plane and am having a fuckin’ blast” scream. Dave, the video guy, appeared in front of me and extended his hand, which I grabbed. We were spinning, high-fiving, and everything else. Then, before I knew it, freefall ended as Ryan deployed the main. This is when things got really interesting.
The deployment was a bit more violent than I was expecting. Not a neck-breaker or anything, but pretty substantial nonetheless. I looked up and saw the parachute over our heads, but noticed we were spinning. I thought “Hmmm…..this doesn’t seem right.” Ryan didn’t say anything initially and I could tell he was working to try and fix something. We continued to spin. I asked “Are we cool?” He said, “We will be if I can get this worked out,” or something to that effect. Then he asked me to help him kick. I’m like “Kick how?” This isn’t something we’d covered before the jump, so I had no idea what he wanted me to do. Nevertheless, I tried to do what he asked, to no avail. He then calmly announced “Okay….we’re gonna have to chop.” Now I didn’t know exactly what “chop” meant in skydiving lingo, but I had a pretty good idea based on the root meaning of the word. The next thing I know, he says “3…2…1.” The trap door opened, and we fell for a few more seconds. I then look up and see the most beautiful fully inflated grey canopy. No spins this time either. All the lines were extending to the chute in a straight, proportional and unobstructed way. Almost immediately, he announced “Well, that was #8 for me.” I said “Let me get this straight. Did we just have a main parachute failure?” “Yep, he said. “And out of the thousands of jumps you’ve done, that’s only the 8th time you’ve had to go to reserve on a tandem?” “Yep,” he said. We came in and made a perfect slide-in landing. Dave was there to greet us with the camera. “What do think of that Allan? You got a 2 for 1! Not everybody gets one of those!” My buddy and I met, slapped high-fives and gave each other a big hug. On the walk back to the hangar, a very nice and supportive guy approached me, put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to worry about it. “It’s about a 1 in 1000 chance, but it does happen, and that’s why there are reserves,” he stated. Although things were still going at warp speed in my mind, I really appreciated such a kind and comforting gesture from a total stranger. That was when all the misconceptions and stereotypes about skydivers began to melt away in my mind. The magnitude of what had just happened didn’t really sink in for quite some time. I had waited 42 years and finally grown the balls to jump out of a plane, only to have a main chute malfunction of severe line twists that resulted in a cutaway. Un…Fucking…Believable!!!!! As I tried to absorb and make sense of it, a weird feeling came over me: the malfunction and cutaway, in a strange and sick sort of way, had only added to the experience. I couldn’t believe I was actually feeling this way about it. “I really must be certifiable,” I thought to myself. I left the dropzone that day supercharged with adrenaline and with a whirlwind of thoughts, but one thing was clear: I knew I’d be back.
The four of us left the Farm and decided to grab some lunch. As we talked about the experience, my buddy and I decided that we wanted to get licensed together. As we talked about what we’d just done, I could hardly get my beer up to my mouth without spilling it. I couldn’t believe it. I’d just survived a main malfunction, and wanted to go back for more! We agreed that we’d get through the holidays, and would start the process sometime after the first of the year. So that’s what happened. I got through the holidays, saved some money and started my journey in earnest around the end of February this year. My buddy had other priorities to pursue and opted not to do it yet. He still wants to, so we’ll see. For me, the pull was undeniable. And it continues to be just that….undeniable.
So as you may have gathered from the title of this, I’m at 34 jumps and counting. I’d planned to try and summarize everything I’ve felt and done up to this point in one writing, but as you can see ended up getting a little long-winded! For now, let me just say that this has been an incredibly defining experience for me. This will now be a multi-part memoir, so there will be plenty more thoughts and stories in the future. I hope you’ll continue the journey with me in part II, which will be coming soon. Until then, enjoy the pic of me and my buddy after our tandem.
So, as all of you know, skydiving is a sport with certain risks, people can get hurt, people can get scared, people can get sick…
Well, the other day at the DZ, one of the tandem students did just that, he puked all over his tandem master’s leg…
Poor guy’s jump suit went from black to orange….
Now, to make matters worse, the next day, THE VERY SAME tandem master was up with a student who started puking… and guess what…
…
…
…
…
He avoided it hahaha
Seriously speaking though, one of the tandem students didn’t listen to his tandem master for the landing (You’re supposed to lift up your legs, and the instructor tells you to several times if you don’t)
Well, the guy didn’t listen, and broke his lower leg… Note to all of you future skydivers: LISTEN TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR!!!!!!!!!!
So I was having a very hard time convincing my mom to come jump with me… When she got there, she loved the atmosphere and the people and everything, so I popped up the idea of letting her ride co-pilot.
She asked me to go find out how much it would cost, so I just manifested her, and brought over the form for her to fill out.
She looked at me and said something along the lines of “I didn’t tell you to book me, I told you to ask how much it was!”
So I pulled her chair up to a table and made her sign the form.
Within 20 minutes, she was being explained how to use a parachute in case the plane had a problem.
I was the 2nd to get off that load, so I didn’t get the chance to see her, but she looked ECSTATIC when she got off.
A friend who came along snapped some photos which I’ll post at a later date. (I didn’t get my hands on them yet).
The conditions weren’t that great, it was cold and was raining in altitude… Let me tell you, rain drops sting like crazy when you hit them at terminal velocity!
All in all, was a fun day, got 2 jumps in, practiced some barrel rolls:
Did some more mantis practices as well… I Couldn’t find a good video of it, but basically, you’re in a position where you’re more arched, your arms are a bit more tucked in, with your hands around your chin.
You’re less stable, but you get a lot more control and speed with your movements.
So my mom finally accepted to come to the drop zone and watch me do some skydives.
I’m actually hoping that once she’s there, she’ll let me pay for her to get a tandem.
She’s somewhat adventurous, but has been extremely against the idea of her jumping.
She’s been super supportive of the fact that I love the sport though, so I’m happy about that one =).
I’ll write up a post about what happened tomorrow next chance I get.
After 22 jumps, I’ve spent at the very least 18:32 minutes of my life falling…
(Not including falling on the ground, falling out of trees, bungee jumping, or any other kinds of falls )
Today was an AMAZING day for skydiving, got 5 of my VR jumps in for my A license.
The day was mainly aimed at people coming to do free-flying, so I got to see a SICK formation being done with a 15 person big way. I was the last off the plane with my instructor Valerie, who was quick to point out to me that we should watch the plane, (we got to jump at 15000 feet instead of the usual 13500 on this jump, and since we were last off the plane (which is a rare occurrence unless you’re a Tandem) we got to watch it spike (fly downwards about as fast as we were falling) after 10-15 seconds of it spiking, we started out track practice for my 7th VR jump. This was a great way to end a beautiful day before going to another drop zone to meet Valerie again for my last 3 jumps.
This is a video of some great tracking…
For those of you who don’t know, tracking is very important when doing group jumps and formations… You basically do it at the end to split up in the sky so that you can get enough distance between you to not crash into each other when deploying your parachute
Earlier, I read mike’s status to say: “so it’s official, I enjoy falling.”
All I have to say to this is:
I don’t enjoy falling… I’m addicted to it… In my dreams, I’m falling, in my nightmares, I’m falling, in my DAY dreams I’m falling… I look outside and I simply want to fall… Soon enough I’m gonna make a living off falling, then I know for sure that I have a problem
That’s sum’s up for the most part my entire jump, but I wont be lazy and write the details for you.
If you didn’t already read Adam’s posts (or don’t want to lol) -> the weather was amazing, 30 degrees Celsius and a clear sky. In total we were 19 tandem jumpers + Adam and another solo jumper.
As soon as we got to the drop zone I wanted everything to happen right away, luckily for me I was on the first load. My tandem instructor was absolutely awesome (Jon) I don’t think I could have gotten a better tandem instructor even if I had asked. He made ridiculous comments/jokes that would have put a stressed jumper at ease all while being funny, but I was mentally prepped for this.. or so I thought. The entire time, from land til about 10 seconds before the jump I was completely relaxed, but at the same time excited like a little kid but I’ll get back to this point in a minute.
Roughly 2 mins before the door opened I had asked Jon if we could do a flip out of the plane and have a little fun he said no problem. He strapped up the harness and the door opened, it was go time. We were the second to last to jump. Watching people as they jumped was surreal on it’s own. I’ve watched countless videos of skydiving, but nothing comes close to witnessing it nor experiencing it yourself. We got to the door and it was 1-2-3… this is where my mental state went out the door and it hit me as we were flipping “I just jumped out of a plane, holy **** I just jumped out of a plane.” It was liberating. It didn’t feel like we were falling, it felt like the wind tunnel with fresh air, a harness, a camera man and a sick view. It really felt surreal, it was absolutely amazing/ridiculous.
I got the second tap on my shoulder, I closed my arms and didn’t even have the chance to think twice before the chute deployed. The ears popping thing was pretty uncomfortable but otherwise free-falling is something EVERYONE has to try at least once.
After our deployed parachute fun and super smooth landing (I’m telling you, this guy is mad pro) I wasn’t able to hear for a good 5-10 mins, people were talking to me and I had this huge smile while nodding and pretending to understand what people were saying. I tried all the usual tricks but nothing worked, then my right ear went back to normal … but the left ear stayed 50% muffled for the next 8-9 hours. Once I got home I did a little research as I was getting a little worried, and apparently having a cold and jumping is a horrible idea as it really messes with your sinus system and could potentially cause major damage. I wasn’t even aware I had a cold and didn’t think twice about it, but what’s done is done and I had an absolutely AMAZING time.
Once I’m able to sell some assets I’ll be doing my PFF for sure. I can’t not experience free-fall again. I must do it again, over and over and over until I get hurt and will probably continue even after that point.
So all in all, we ended up being 2 regular jumpers and 19 tandems.
Load 1 got off the ground without a hitch, well apart from a PFF student having a botched landing and face planting and a tandem with a heavier girl landing rolling into the parachute… We had a good laugh .
The twin otter stopped to gas up for load 2 which I was on with a buddy.
Jump went impeccably.
Load 3 also went without any problems…
Load 4 however… Never got off the ground, leaving 6 of the tandems I had brought hanging around waiting for their turn…
Turns out that the registration fees for the NAFTA weren’t paid… Or so Transport Canada’s inspectors claimed.
So we waited for 2 hours, and still nothing… By hour 3, the owner of the DZ announced that people could either take the risk and keep waiting, or go come and come back another day.
Needless to say, I decided to go home after having done only one jump, the same goes for one of the other tandem jumpers (who’s also my co-worker)… The others waited and ended up getting onto a load after 6 hours of waiting…
At this point, I’m obviously frustrated, as it was a PERFECT day for skydiving… and By perfect I mean: Not a cloud in the sky, 30 degrees celcius outside… a Perfect, sunny day. Which is something that VERY VERY rarely happens here… Especially in the month of May.
The tandems who got to jump were obviously extatic with the experience, two or three claimed that they want to take lessons… We’ll see where that leads… I know Mike’s in for the long haul, that’s for sure.
By the way: If any of you want to write for our blog, feel free to send us a note, we’re always happy to hear other divers’ stories and of course publish them
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he said no problem. He strapped up the harness and the door opened, it was go time. We were the second to last to jump. Watching people as they jumped was surreal on it’s own. I’ve watched countless videos of skydiving, but nothing comes close to witnessing it nor experiencing it yourself. We got to the door and it was 1-2-3… this is where my mental state went out the door and it hit me as we were flipping “I just jumped out of a plane, holy **** I just jumped out of a plane.” It was liberating. It didn’t feel like we were falling, it felt like the wind tunnel with fresh air, a harness, a camera man and a sick view. It really felt surreal, it was absolutely amazing/ridiculous.