Woke up bright and early on Saturday, excited out of my mind to go do this jump. I've never gone sky diving before, but it's always been something I've wanted to do.
A girl that I work with came in one morning a while ago and when discussing our weekends, she said that she had gone sky diving and loved it. Fast forward a few weeks, we're dating and decide to go. Got a bunch of people together to go with us, and made arrangements. Coming up on the actual date, the people from the group started dropping like flies. Down from 9 people, we had 4 that actually went. All the guys (except me, of course) chickened out, and we lost one woman who didn't have the money.
Arriving at the place, it's pretty unassuming. Kind of a run down few buildings, lots of campsites, and a lot of cool people who often just hang around even if they're not jumping. We went inside, got a short training course (10 minutes), and signed a lot of papers indicating that we understood that we could die, and that if we do, there's no way in hell we can sue anyone even remotely involved in the jump... Very comforting!
A couple hours after we got there, it poured rain so they had to ground everyone. We were promised that we would still be able to jump, so we got some lunch and talked to one of the instructors for a bit.
After a lot of waiting, and a lot of watching people jump, they finally called our names and we went to meet the instructors! Since it was a tandem jump, we each had a tandem person, and the two of us who got videos and pictures also had a video guy. All cool people, very laid back and relaxed. The suits are pretty funny, and the harnesses actually inspire some confidence - very thick webbing, nice and tight.
From left to right, Katie (my co-worker), me, Kara (a friend of Jenn's), and Jenn (the girl who inspired this in the first place). Ready to rock!
Going up in the plane is an interesting experience, watching the ground drop away and knowing you're not going to land in the plane. Everyone was laughing and joking, except for a couple of the jumpers who were turning white... Very amusing. When we get to about 8,000 ft, they open the plane door, and at 14,000 ft., your tandem guy buckles you in, cinches everything tight, and gives you your goggles. My video guy was shooting the whole time, making sure to capture some footage of my whole group which was pretty nice considering he only has to keep track of me.
Katie went first, and I got to watch her climb out on the side of the plane, then suddenly.. WHOOSH, she's gone. Disappeared. Very cool. My turn!
Climbing out on the side of the plane was an interesting experience. I was unable to be afraid or nervous, because I couldn't exactly wrap my mind around the fact that I was on the side of a plane, about to let go. What experience could I compare it to to tell me "you should be afraid"? So I just went with it. Wow, what a view.
They make you cross your arms and grab onto your straps to supress the panic reaction that people get to grab onto anything they can. Climbing out, the video guy grins at me, lets go and I watch him drop like a stone. Then, suddenly, I'm falling... falling... so fast!
There's nothing I can say to describe the feeling of falling 120mph through the air. The freefall lasts for about a minute, and it is the most exhilirating minute of your life. If you get the chance to go, do it. It's unbelievable. The video guy was having a blast with us, grabbing onto my feet and hands and pulling/pushing us around. This huge, sh*t eating grin on his face the whole time - it must be fun to watch newbies like myself experience this for the first time.
Plunging through the clouds was awesome. Clear sky, clear sky, clear sky.. white, white, white, gray, gray, clear again! Coming through the clouds, this is what you see on the other side.
Pretty cool, eh? Finally, after a lifetime and a half, the guy pulls the chute, and we drift along. He gave me the cords and told me to yank on one or the other and see what happens. After some fun spins and such, I settled in and just admired the scenery. When else do you get to be thousands of feet in the air with nothing between you and the rest of the world?
Landing was easy, they ask you to stick your feet out and the tandem guy takes the force of the landing. Unreal.
I'm going to go again!
Sorry for the grainy pictures, no place was open yesterday so I got crappy Wal-mart hour developing and scanned 'em on a lousy scanner.
A girl that I work with came in one morning a while ago and when discussing our weekends, she said that she had gone sky diving and loved it. Fast forward a few weeks, we're dating and decide to go. Got a bunch of people together to go with us, and made arrangements. Coming up on the actual date, the people from the group started dropping like flies. Down from 9 people, we had 4 that actually went. All the guys (except me, of course) chickened out, and we lost one woman who didn't have the money.
Arriving at the place, it's pretty unassuming. Kind of a run down few buildings, lots of campsites, and a lot of cool people who often just hang around even if they're not jumping. We went inside, got a short training course (10 minutes), and signed a lot of papers indicating that we understood that we could die, and that if we do, there's no way in hell we can sue anyone even remotely involved in the jump... Very comforting!
A couple hours after we got there, it poured rain so they had to ground everyone. We were promised that we would still be able to jump, so we got some lunch and talked to one of the instructors for a bit.
After a lot of waiting, and a lot of watching people jump, they finally called our names and we went to meet the instructors! Since it was a tandem jump, we each had a tandem person, and the two of us who got videos and pictures also had a video guy. All cool people, very laid back and relaxed. The suits are pretty funny, and the harnesses actually inspire some confidence - very thick webbing, nice and tight.
From left to right, Katie (my co-worker), me, Kara (a friend of Jenn's), and Jenn (the girl who inspired this in the first place). Ready to rock!
Going up in the plane is an interesting experience, watching the ground drop away and knowing you're not going to land in the plane. Everyone was laughing and joking, except for a couple of the jumpers who were turning white... Very amusing. When we get to about 8,000 ft, they open the plane door, and at 14,000 ft., your tandem guy buckles you in, cinches everything tight, and gives you your goggles. My video guy was shooting the whole time, making sure to capture some footage of my whole group which was pretty nice considering he only has to keep track of me.
Katie went first, and I got to watch her climb out on the side of the plane, then suddenly.. WHOOSH, she's gone. Disappeared. Very cool. My turn!
Climbing out on the side of the plane was an interesting experience. I was unable to be afraid or nervous, because I couldn't exactly wrap my mind around the fact that I was on the side of a plane, about to let go. What experience could I compare it to to tell me "you should be afraid"? So I just went with it. Wow, what a view.
They make you cross your arms and grab onto your straps to supress the panic reaction that people get to grab onto anything they can. Climbing out, the video guy grins at me, lets go and I watch him drop like a stone. Then, suddenly, I'm falling... falling... so fast!
There's nothing I can say to describe the feeling of falling 120mph through the air. The freefall lasts for about a minute, and it is the most exhilirating minute of your life. If you get the chance to go, do it. It's unbelievable. The video guy was having a blast with us, grabbing onto my feet and hands and pulling/pushing us around. This huge, sh*t eating grin on his face the whole time - it must be fun to watch newbies like myself experience this for the first time.
Plunging through the clouds was awesome. Clear sky, clear sky, clear sky.. white, white, white, gray, gray, clear again! Coming through the clouds, this is what you see on the other side.
Pretty cool, eh? Finally, after a lifetime and a half, the guy pulls the chute, and we drift along. He gave me the cords and told me to yank on one or the other and see what happens. After some fun spins and such, I settled in and just admired the scenery. When else do you get to be thousands of feet in the air with nothing between you and the rest of the world?
Landing was easy, they ask you to stick your feet out and the tandem guy takes the force of the landing. Unreal.
I'm going to go again!
Sorry for the grainy pictures, no place was open yesterday so I got crappy Wal-mart hour developing and scanned 'em on a lousy scanner.
No! Only access is from the front.. Sorry to burst your bubble 
