It’s been 4 days since then, and I’m still feeling the after effects of Saturday.
I started everything off by partying with some friends Friday night and got to bed around 4:30AM…
Woke up the next morning at 8:00AM to pick up some friends at the Metro (Subway) and then head to the DZ.
My mom, being a pastry chef decided that she wanted to make me some cookies and brownies to bring with me, so I had about 3 boxes of junk food with me along with my skydive gear, a small ziplock back full of cherries, my box of Gatorade powder and a huge smile on my face because the sky was just so perfectly blue!
We arrive at the DZ at about 10:00AM, I have 7 people who came along with me to do a tandem jump for the first time, they’re as excited as I am…
My buddy Alex who’s also a skydiver decided that he wanted to pop in and bring me a gift… The most wonderful gift a person can give a skydiver… He didn’t want to tell me what it was over the phone, all he said was that it’s golden and that he thought of me when he bought it.
I had no idea what to expect, in my head I was thinking “hmm, golden and he thought of me… Does this guy have a thing for me or something?”
After a few laughs at that idea, he pulled the gift out from behind his back… a Heineken Draughtkeg!!!!!
This is probably the best thing one can give a skydiver…
So I proceeded to hide it behind the manifest’s desk to be sure no one taps it open before I get to it.
(Many laughs about the disappearing keg followed later on which I’ll write about)
So i manifest myself on a first load, do a 2way with a buddy at the DZ, we decide that today we’re gonna do fun jumps that aren’t serious.
First exit: Roller coaster! I’m in front in a seated position with my legs pointing forward in front of me, his legs are on my sides, I’m holding onto his leg grips and he’s holding onto my shoulder grips.
We jumped out facing the wind instead of back to the wind, so we span all over the place going first feet forward looking down, then ended up looking up towards the plane. Was a blast!
We did some formation work after stabilizing, we grabbed arms, he satellited around me, then grabbed my arms again, then I went around him, grabbed his arms and so on.
This was his official 100th jump. (Unofficially however it was an 8way :P)
We landed exactly on point…. The instructors at the DZ however…. Landed in the soy bean fields hahahahaha!
2nd jump, two of the tandems I brought along were on the plane, one was nervous, the other was extatic.
We decided to do a head down exit, so we grabbed onto each other’s shoulder grips, jumped out, stayed head down for a few seconds, stabilized, did the same thing as the last jump, except this time after going around one side, we’d inverse and go the other side.
Again, perfect landing.
3rd jump, 2 more tandems come on (hopefully one will be doing his AFF soon)
did a 4 way with an H position exit, we were fairly sloppy on the exit (*AHEM* *Fabien* *COUGH* *COUGH*
We lost major stability and took a while to get back together… Actually, we never did, they all fell faster than I did and I couldn’t catch up before 5k feet.
Great landing though…. so golden that I had to run towards my canopy so that it wouldn’t catch wind and pull me off my feet…
Then I realize that I ran onto the runway as the plane is landing, so I have to run back….
The tandems were extatic at the end of the jump hugging each other and yelling in the field.
4th jump was another 4way, same people, same exit except this time, the person who will remain unnamed took an easier position (tail of the H only has to jump backwards, no need to position himself into the wind or anything)
The exit is flawless this time, we stabilize… Except when we started the 1st point, this same person *COUGH* *COUGH!* Sorry bad cold…
Turned the wrong way.. apparently he doesn’t know right from left đ
So he ended up face to face with the person next to him, being an open circle, we lost balance with the relative wind and split up again. Well he did, the other 3 of us stayed together… hahaha
Great landing again đ
Another friend showed up to wish me a happy birthday, she surprised me as I was walking back with my rig on my shoulder from this jump. She came by to simply do one jump with me then continue on her way.
So we did a 2 way, also with a head down exit as before.
During freefall, I turned to my right, she gripped my sides, then went around gripped the other side, then came in front of me, she turned, I gripped her sides, went around, gripped the other side, then went in front of her.
Golden landing, she then went on her way and I planned to do one last jump with the same person as earlier.
6th jump was a solo, practiced for my B license series.
7th jump was a sunset load, I did another 2way with my buddy from earlier, we decided to do some back flying. we basically just spun around in circles for fun for the last jump.
Under canopy at 1 km in the air (3000 feet) while the sun has just finished setting is one of the most amazing feelings ever!
Afterwards, we were all hanging around the DZ trying to figure out whether or not to go out for food or to order pizza.
I broughts out the keg, others cracked open some bottles…
We then realized that there were no cups to be found… SACRILEGE!
I put the keg down, turn my back to talk to someone, turn around to see one of the tandem masters as he says bye to me to then look down and see that he’s hiding something under his shirt.
His statement: “What keg?”
Similar jokes were cracked over the next 20 minutes.
The DZO set up a bonfire and then ordered pizza for everyone. We all sat around the fire, drank, laughed, etc… Until about midnight when people started leaving.
I went to an after hours with my friend and partied till the sun came up… Litterally đ
I’m still sore đ
My Factory Diver should be in this week. I also ordered a Protrack so reviews should be up soon đ
Right â I guess I should start off with describing how EXPENSIVE skydiving is here in relation to the general income (Iâll try make this as easy to understand as possible).
Skydiving in South Africa has unfortunately reached a point where it is reserved for professionals. I am sure not why this is, but it a major factor behind skydiving here not being as accessible as it is in the rest of the world.
To put it in context â A jump ticket cost me R200 (roughly $26.50), gear hire and packing â $9.90 each jump. Considering I normally take home around $2000 per month after TAX (Which in Rands is a fairly decent salary).
So â By the time I pay for my car, rent, food, cell phone etc, I am usually left with around $260 to jump with đ
I canât really compare the cost side of things to the US as I donât know how much it costs relative to the average salary, however â In South Africa, jumping is out of reach for the general public đ
Other than the costs involved, Jumping in South Africa is pretty much the same as anywhere else in the world, just on a smaller scale. We only have about 6 Drop Zones in the whole country, but I plan to jump at all of them đ
As for BEER FINES, yes â we have them đ but on a smaller scale. For passing my AFF progression, I was rewarded with having to buy a case of beer, and while everyone sits around drinking my beer, they laugh at all my AFF videos. I then had to tell a story that begins with âOh SHIT, there I was â I thought I was going to dieâŚ(insert story here :-))â Then had to down a beer within 5 seconds, and if you donât finish it â pour it on your head. Haha â Good Times!
For our âFirstsâ, we have to do down-downs, not buy cases of beer â This suits me just fine because two cases of beer is equivalent to one jump ticket, and Iâm sure everyone knows â when you first get into the sport, there are A LOT of firsts!
Things are looking very promising for the skydiving future of South Africa as; recently a very wealthy business man decided to invest in uplifting the sport. So far he has built and upgraded various drop zones around the country, bought 6 ex South African Air force planes (Previously known as Atlas Kuduâs) and is currently in the process of having them all converted to turbine engines. The first three have been rolled out (My DZ currently has one). These are now called Atlas Angels and have a wicked paint job :-). The idea is that once all 6 have been converted, 5 drop zones will each have one and there will be a spare for when one goes in for a service! I love these planes â it takes just 12 minutes from take-off to 12Â 000ft, and about the same time back to the end of the run way.
Although the Angels only hold 9 skydivers, they are normally on their way back up with load 2 by the time the tandems from load 1 are landing đ
See below picâs of my favourite jump ship đ
One thing I love (Especially now being winter here), from about 7Â 000ft and up the view is amazing! To the right of the plane, we can see the Drakensburg Mountains, covered with snow, and to the left, we see the entire Durban coast line and even the arch of our new stadium!
Those are the main differences that I know of â the only other minor difference is: Here, the maximum wing loading for a âBeginner / intermediateâ skydiver is 1.0 as opposed to the 1.1 in the US, not a huge difference, but for me â itâs the difference between being able to fly a 170 vs. a 150. Meaning that now (Because Iâm in the process of buying my FIRST rig) I have to buy a 150 canopy, and look at it in the cupboard while I jump a 170 till I get my B-License đ as the 150 is going for a great price and donât want to lose out!
I havenât been able to jump anywhere other than in South Africa, so I’m just going on what I’ve read. Please feel free to add a comment if there is anything specific that you would like to know about.
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 withdrawalâs – I like to call this “Altitude Sickness” đ
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! đ
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 đ 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.
âHow do you describe your first jump?â I was asked.
âA perfect blend of sheer terror combined with complete peace.â Was the only response I could find that fit what had just occurred.
I was fortunate enough that the winds had subsided last Friday, and I was able to make the first static line jump of my progression. And like I said, it was the perfect blend of both terror and beauty. For those of you unaccustomed to the wonderful world of skydiving, itâs hard to put into words exactly what a canopy ride is like. At first, itâs completely blissful â the loud sounds of freefall wind and aircraft engine have long since faded out, and all you can hear is your parachute gently fluttering in the air, as it floats down towards the earth. I laughed, giggled as you may say, as I discovered how easily I could point myself where I wanted to go. I could see everything; a three mile wide lake was like a puddle from here. Cars were toys that seemed to move so slow on roads stretched so thin. Then the roads got bigger, the lakes wider, and I realized I was quickly coming back to the world I only recently left. Then it was terrifying.
âWhatâs my heading? Where should I start my landing pattern? Which way is the wind coming from again, north-northwest? Whereâs that? Wait the runway points which direction?â
Then I realized that Corra, my jumpmaster, was still with me via radio, and talked me down the entire rest of the journey. Like I said, pure bliss, and completely terrifying â and I canât wait to do it again.
So far Iâm in love with the Static Line Progression. I may not have gotten to freefall yet, but learning to freefall correctly should come easier, because Iâll already have some canopy flying experience â compared to an AFF program, where I would be free-falling and piloting my parachute on the same jump.
Tomorrow, I get to jump again. If the weather holds out as long as it is supposed to, Iâll be able to begin freefall. After a few solo free-fall jumps, Iâll be able to better compare the two programs. One thing I see that attracts people to AFF is that you do get free-fall right away. I realize that Iâm sort of the static line exception â paying for all of my jumps at once allows me to basically jump as much as I can, where someone paying for each jump individually would want the most experience for the money up front. So the way I see it, if you saved the money and are ready to begin your skydiving license, go with the static line program if itâs available. Itâs cheaper, and if youâre dedicated you can be freefalling a few days after you start the program. If youâre paying by jump, AFF gets you the biggest bang for your buck, right away.
What do you guys think? AFF or S/L? Either way, donât just do one jump and quit, get you license! Blue skies.
Only 6 more sleeps until I get to do a high altitude 4 way jump with some friends.
For those of you who don’t know what that means… Normally, when you do a skydive, you jump out of the plane at 13500 feet. Or in some cases 10500 feet (if in a smaller plane).
If the plane is between 10000 and 13000 feet for more than 30 minutes, then they have to have oxygen available for the skydivers with a minimum of 1 mask for every 10 jumpers.
If above 13000 feet, everyone needs oxygen for the duration of the flight. (Exceptions are made for the first 500 feet at most DZs)
Above 20000 feet, each skydiver needs oxygen for the descent as well. (An oxygen bottle to jump with)
Now, because of all these regulations, Drop Zones reserve high altitude jumps for special occasions, plan it out months in advance (to be sure to have oxygen available) and take reservations as well.
I’ve been waiting 2 months for this coming Sunday.
Why?
Because this Sunday is gonna be my 1st experience with it.
What’s so special about it?
Well, when you jump at 13500 feet, it takes about 1500-2000 feet to stabilize, and an extra 500-1000 feet if you’re in a group to start doing formations. Leaving you about 11000 feet to play with right?
Wrong!
You separate at about 4500 feet and release your canopy at about 3000-3500…
So that leaves only 6500 feet of freefall to “play” in…. Falling at 174 feet per second, that’s only 37 seconds…
When falling from 20000 feet, you still need the 2500 or so feet to stabilize and start formations, plus separation at about 4500 feet, but that still leaves you 13000 feet to have fun with… OR 74 seconds of freefall with which to do your formation… You’re effectively doubling your play time…
Now that’s a LOT of falling =)
It’s costing 85$ plus canopy rental (Unless I can convince a buddy to lend me his :P)
And it’s gonna be 85$ well spent!
I’ll share my experience with you when I get home afterward!
I’ve been putting off writing my intro post for months now and Adam’s been patient, even though he technically deleted my account once already! Anyways, I’m Greg — an adrenaline junkie and software engineer. I love rock-climbing, biking, running and have a long list of other activities I’m planning on getting to.
I’ve always been enamored with skydiving, and knew that I’d eventually do it. I landed an awesome job last year and finally had the means to start the PFF courses this season (it’s an expensive hobby). Adam had finished his solo certification the winter before, and he suggested I take the course at Nouvel Air in Farnham, Quebec. I started the theory courses and wind tunnel session on May 11 and was ready for my first solo jump for the coming Saturday. At this point, I’d never even done a tandem jump and was unaware that they encouraged it (I only found this out after my solo certification was done). In my mind, I had already committed to starting this sport, so a tandem jump would’ve just been a wasted $250.
Cut to the Saturday, and the entire day was rained out (this has been a recurring theme all season for me since I can only jump on Saturdays now). I waited around for almost the entire day with no break in the weather. Disappointed but determined to jump, I decided to go back the next day. Luckily the weather was better, and I was scheduled for my first PFF with two instructors. Now, I don’t know what usually goes through other people’s mind on their first solo jump, but I was not anxious at all. At this point, I had 20 minutes of wind tunneling under my belt, spent an entire day imagining the jump, read through the PFF and PIM handbooks multiple times, and was used to heights and falling (10 foot whippers in rock climbing can be pretty intense). I was as ready as one can be (or so I thought), so when it came time to step up to that doorway and jump, I didn’t miss a beat… that is, until I started falling. The feeling was so overwhelming, that by the time my instructors stabilized me, I literally forgot everything I was supposed to do. “Sensory overload” as they say. After what seemed like 20 – 30 seconds of bewildered staring, it all finally came back to me, and I did my circle of awareness, attempted some 360s and just worked on my general stability.
After that first jump, it felt like my heart was racing even on the way up for my second. I couldn’t wait to jump again! Unfortunately, the winds sped up on the ascent, so I had to go down with the plane, and was grounded until the evening. I did get two more jumps in that day, one of which was during sunset along with a plan B landing in some corn fields đ The next week, I did jump #4 – #9 to finish the PFF course, with #6 as my very first solo (no instructors). It was at the end of all this when I was informed that I should’ve done a tandem jump first to complete the 10 required for the solo certification, but obviously it was too late đ
Since then (May 24), I’ve only jumped 5 more times because the weather or wind conditions have been crap on Saturdays. I would love to jump more often, but working until 9pm on weekdays and reserving Sundays for rock climbing don’t give me many options đ This may be a blessing, since I’d probably bankrupt myself with this sport.
As for my plans in skydiving, I’m hoping to finish (or at least start) my A license by the end of this season, so that I can travel and jump in other countries by next year.
The following video is from my 7th jump and the “test” for the solo certification:
âItâs the closest youâll ever get to God.â 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 werenât slinginâ drinks behind the bar together back in the early 90âs. In our early 20âs at the time, with an abundance of adrenaline and a deficit of good sense, weâd reaffirm our commitment to jump together one day each time weâd 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 weâd gone our separate ways. The friendship was still solid and weâd 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. Sheâd done a tandem. Twice! Absolutely loved it both times. I told her Iâd 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 hadnât happened in over 16 years, it probably wasnât 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 tooâŚ..a small epiphany of sorts. âIâm not getting any younger. Iâm in good shape for my age, and most of my friends are in a different place in life right now. Carpe Diem motherfucker. Itâs now or neverâ Iâd 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. NowâŚ.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 thatâs what I wanted to do, go for it. My parents both reacted in a much calmer way than I thought. My mother even stated, âWell, I always thought youâd do something like that.â My father was actually quite intrigued by the idea. I was shockedâŚ.but in a pleasant way, knowing I wouldnât 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 Iâd 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 âNo really, Iâm serious. Iâve always wanted to do it.â I looked at his wife, who nodded in agreement. So he committed, and we were set to do it together. Now I didnât have to go it alone! There were daily texts between us. 10 daysâŚ.6 daysâŚ.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 didnât 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. âI donât know about this. What kind of place lets people sleep on the couch? This doesnât look very professional to me. Is the guy sleeping going to be the one I jump with?â 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 âThatâs my guy.â His name was RyanâŚ..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 wasnât 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. âYeah, that methâs a helluva a drug,â 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 strongâŚ..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 ânâ 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, thatâs 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 âWhat the fuck are you doing?â The video guy was filming and turned to me to get my reaction. âHey Allan! What do think about that? Did you see that guy get sucked out of here?â I commented, and he then said âOkay, next time that door opens, itâs your turn. Skydiving baby.â 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 couldnât believe what I was about to do. Before I knew it, we rolled out of the plane doing forward flipsâŚ..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 âI just jumped out of a plane and am having a fuckinâ blastâ 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 âHmmmâŚ..this doesnât seem right.â Ryan didnât say anything initially and I could tell he was working to try and fix something. We continued to spin. I asked âAre we cool?â He said, âWe will be if I can get this worked out,â or something to that effect. Then he asked me to help him kick. Iâm like âKick how?â This isnât something weâd 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 âOkayâŚ.weâre gonna have to chop.â Now I didnât know exactly what âchopâ 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 â3âŚ2âŚ1.â 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 âWell, that was #8 for me.â I said âLet me get this straight. Did we just have a main parachute failure?â âYep, he said. âAnd out of the thousands of jumps youâve done, thatâs only the 8th time youâve had to go to reserve on a tandem?â âYep,â he said. We came in and made a perfect slide-in landing. Dave was there to greet us with the camera. âWhat do think of that Allan? You got a 2 for 1! Not everybody gets one of those!â 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. âItâs about a 1 in 1000 chance, but it does happen, and thatâs why there are reserves,â 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 didnât 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. UnâŚFuckingâŚBelievable!!!!! 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 couldnât believe I was actually feeling this way about it. âI really must be certifiable,â 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 Iâd 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 weâd just done, I could hardly get my beer up to my mouth without spilling it. I couldnât believe it. Iâd just survived a main malfunction, and wanted to go back for more! We agreed that weâd get through the holidays, and would start the process sometime after the first of the year. So thatâs 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 weâll see. For me, the pull was undeniable. And it continues to be just thatâŚ.undeniable.
So as you may have gathered from the title of this, Iâm at 34 jumps and counting. Iâd planned to try and summarize everything Iâve 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 youâll 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.
When it comes to skydiving, I believe there are three kinds of people.
The first kind hears the word âskydivingâ and thinks: âThe best. Idea. Ever!â These are people who enjoy rock climbing and rappelling upside-down, snowboarding, bungee-jumping, and eating strange foods for fun. For these people, life is a relentless Mountain Dew commercial, with all their experiences flickering by in jump cuts as they endlessly quest for the next big rush. Or so I imagine.
The second kind of person thinks skydiving sounds stupid and horrifying. This person is likely to say something like, âWhy on earth would you jump out of a perfectly good airplane?â The idea of skydiving is entirely alien and goes against all instincts to this person.
The third kind of person has an instinctual fear of skydiving but also knows deep down that if they could find a way to break through that fear, they would really enjoy it. Hopefully. That is, if they are alive at the end.
I am the third kind of person. I have never been deeply afraid of heights, but Iâve never been real keen on heights either. When Iâm pushed to an uncomfortably high place my body begins to war with my mind. My mind says âHey, itâs alrightâŚthis is perfectly safe,â while my body enlists my stomach to climb up my throat in a futile attempt to throttle my senseless brain. The net result: nausea, vertigo, racing pulse, flop sweatâŚa clear message from my body that death is indeed immanent, so pretty please, with sugar on top, return to safer ground, NOW!
I went on my first skydive as a tandem student in November of 2008. I have a video and everything, which I’ll be happy to post sometime for giggles. The most surprising thing for me about my first skydive was that I never had a moment in which I was really freaked out and had to overcome the terror I described above. I was more afraid of being afraid then the actual thing, which was pretty easy peasy. But, unlike Adam, I didn’t go from one tandem to full-on addiction. I eased in.
My home drop zone is Skydive the Farm in Rockmart, Georgia. I did my first jump because my friend Sandy is married to the DZO (drop zone owner) and she’s pretty cool. So, because I was still friends with Sandy, I jumped again (another tandem) a year later. But I STILL wasn’t hooked.
This winter I went through a personal crisis. My marriage of 15 years fell apart. I was hanging in there okay emotionally and keeping busy (I have three kids. Don’t run away and think you’re too cool to hear this old chick’s story: I’m also a MILF!) with my kids and new solo life but I was freaking out deep down because, the end of a 15 year marriage is a pretty big deal. One weekend in March I went out to the drop zone just to hang out and did yet another tandem (I was starting to figure out how cool drop zone life and community can be), and Sandy started asking me when I was going to do AFF. I just shrugged, totally not getting it.
My breakthrough came about a month later, the day I broke down in sniveling tears as I realized that right now my biggest fear is being alone. While I am a fiercely independent and accomplished person, I am also very social and very much need to be connected. I had found myself in a vortex of dis-connect. My support system of 15 years had evaporated. Everything I knew about who I was, how I defined myself, had been obliterated. I felt bereft in a way that I imagine is similar to experiencing the death of a loved one. I HAD lost my loved one, my other, my soft place to land. I felt naked and vulnerable and terrified.
In that moment of realizing how raw and afraid I was of being on my own, my mind immediately jumped to the image of me, jumping alone from the door of an airplane. The idea terrified me. But with that fear was a clear knowledge that people face that fear and jump alone into the open sky on purpose, for a reason.
The outcome of being afraid and jumping anyway is something not many people can do, but when it is faced head-on, it is for many the purest form of joy. In that moment I knew that I would jump alone and I knew without a single doubt that I would not only be okay and that I would experience something so valuable to me that it couldnât even be named.
Within two weeks I had sat my training course, spent hours in the drop zone (many of them grounded by winds too high for a novice like me), and many hours pouring over a training manual (SIM). On Sunday, May 9th, the weather cooperated and my instructors (the AFF course trains you by jumping with instructors who coach you throughout your jump with hand signals and reminders of all you have learned) went up to 14,000 feet so I could finally confront the door of the plane and see what I was made of. That was the day I became a skydiver.
The door of the plane has come to represent many important things to me. Even now, at a grand total of 25 jumps, each ride to altitude finds me in the grip of a numbing fear. My monkey brain begins to gibber that I am not capable enough, that I am not smart enough, that I am not coordinated enough, that I will look dumb, that I will fail, that I am not enough. I fight back. I breathe deeply and tell that monkey, âI can do it. I am enough!â Sometimes I believe myself and sometimes I donât, but the most important thing is what I do next. Every single time, I keep breathing. I keep focused on the task at hand. And I keep moving.
In my profession (I am a chiropractor), movement is life. Life is movement. I keep moving. I do the next thing I have been trained to do, and the next, right up until I am in the door of the plane, looking over the most heart wrenching sight: the bluest of skies and the arch of our planet. And then, heart pounding and shaking, I remember that I am enough, I am more than the monkey voices, and I always will be, and then I keep moving until I have leaped from the plane and I am flying once again.
And oh, the flying!!! I could jabber on for ages about the thrill of flying. It is nothing like falling, or roller coasters, or anything you have ever done, except leaping from an airplane. There is nothing like it or ever will be. In the moment you leave the door, not only does the monkey voice stop, it becomes a joke. Freefall is the most perfect release and the most perfect form of “nowness” I have ever encountered. It is more than zen, more than fun, more than beauty. Flying allows me access to the place where all the BS drops away and I am left with only that which is real and good.
Skydiving has allowed me to redefine myself, to release myself, to trust myself, and to be myself in a way I haven’t in years. I have laughed harder, drank more (Oooh. That’s a story you’d love to hear soon), and made more true friends than I knew I could.
I can’t wait to share more details of my new addiction, and even more importantly I can’t wait to hear from you. All my posts won’t be this long and soul searching. Sometimes it’s just fun jumps and sunset loads and owing beer again.Speaking of which… (first post. crap).
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…
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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!!!!!!!!!!
