My first skydive

What a day this was, I actually don't remember when it was. At least 2003 or 2004. I had never been on a plane in my life, this would be my first (and so far, only) time.

The dude I planned the trip with was 55 and had heart problems. The weekend of, his wife threatened to divorce him if he went (cue whip cracking sound). Needless to say, he did not go. I wasn't going to let that stop me.

I started my trek all the way down to Laurel Airport (http://goo.gl/Zyr0Q) in Delaware. The ride seemed like it took forever. No navigation, no one to guide me, I had never been anywhere near this place before. But I managed to make it only moments before the initial intake. I signed my life away, it was now my own fault should I die.

I just hung around, everyone seemed to be in groups. I never was good at making new friends. But we were all there for the same reason, to safely jump from a plane. I took the long 6 hour safety course. There were maybe 6 or 8 people in the class. We the brave/stupid ones jumping IFF. Who wants a dude strapped to their back when falling at 120mph? We learned what to do in case of chute failure. What to do if the lines get tangled. What to do if the dudes holding me fell away (you may think, continue free fall but this was apparently wrong according to the instructor, "just pull your chute", he insisted).

We had to wait around for the weather to break after the course. It was a cloudy, shitty, overcast kind of day. While we waited, more people started showing up to the air strip. They weren't here to jump, they came to party. This was the first time I had seen an ice luge. More bottles of booze than I had seen outside of a beer store. I was invited to party. They were more than eager to welcome me in to the gang. I was reluctant though. Should the clouds break, I needed to be ready... "Maybe later" I said, but I knew I wouldn't be partying, I had a long drive and a pissed off girlfriend waiting at home.

Alas, the clouds had cleared enough to start runs again. The first plane went up, the people jumped out, gravity did its job, the people fell down. No real story here.

It was time for the next plane. The airport manager said we would probably only get one or two more runs in before it got cloudy again. Should it get shitty again, they would honor the class and payment for the next day. But I had driven 2 hours to get there, I didn't want a raincheck (is this were it got its name?). The people ahead of me on the list were locals, only twenty minutes outside of town. They offered me a spot on their trip up knowing my situation. I thanked them, and quickly forgot who they were (I am bad with names and faces, besides I'M GETTING READ TO JUMP OUT OF A PERFECTLY GOOD AIRPLANE!!!)

This was it, the moment I'd only drempt about. The reason for this trip. This is where the video picks up.... see you in 8 minutes
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I think the whole experiane from jumping to landing was seven minutes. The free-fall lasted maybe a minute or two. Falling at 120mph from 11,000 feet, some people go in to sensory overload, and I could see why. You are looking down at the world while it is hurling back at you at speeds hard to process as fast as the fall. To combat this, they give you a series of things to perform during the fall. To bring you back to Earth, you could say. Reach back, grab the pull three times. This was to make a mental and physcial impression, "This is what I pull to live dummy!!". Enjoy the fall, the closest thing I've done to flying. At 5500 feet, you see me flash 55 with my hands, this was the signal to say, "time to go boys, this is where I get off". Pull the cord, create resistance, slow down quickly.. Simple physics I guess.

When that chute grabs, it grabs! Going from 120mph to maybe 25 is a bit dramatic. The straps hold you in all the wrong places. Like a wedgie all up in your junk. Not the worst but for sure a hello! Floating down wasn't bad either. This was the soak it in time. Look around, check out the scene. This part would be the longest time falling. Not much to do. No one to talk to. I start looking for the landing zone, it was a six foot circle in the middle of a field. Kind of like dead grass, in a grass field, surrounded by corn fields. It was had to find. I eventually found it though, after I was over another field. Falling slowly..in to the wind. I had no idea how to get closer, so I just kept falling. You can see in the video, he edited a chunk of time out because I was falling SO slow.

That was it! I did it!! I didn't die!!! I landed on my feet!!!!

I'd do it again I think, not anytime soon though. It would have to be something I didn't think about, just did.

(Writing this was nice too, it helped even more relive that day. What a day!)

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Skydive
• sky
• dive
• Izzo