Re: Skydiving - Trip Report
ahh.. I remember my first time. It's funny, the first time you go - you have no idea what to expect, so you're not scared. The 2nd time... is another story. I remember - there was some marsupial instinct to put your arms out and grab onto something - you immediately realize how stupid that is. I also remember pulling the rip cord, and then pulling it out again, thinking "wtf? - isn't this supposed to make me stop?"... then WHOOOSH.. which felt like stopping in mid-air.
Oh, and this is the first I've heard to having to pay extra to jump out higher. The place I went for a tandem jump at 15K feet was ~$120
I grew up in the middle of IL - where I believe they have the most people jump in the world. One particular place has the most people doing it... and the most accidents. One summer - they broke some world record for most people in a formation or something. People were falling out of the air left and right... without their chutes. My brother was a county cop and had to pick them up/scrape them up. Not pretty... I believe the term we used was 'dirt darts'.
Suffice to say.. I went to a different facility not too far away, and they were great. I think all the instructors had over 1,000 jumps... with most in the 3-6,000 range.
I remember my 2nd time... I was jumping tandem with a guy who was absolutely insane. After the fall... and we're floating down.. he had me pull on both the handles as far down as I could. I could feel us slow down.. then he said, "look up, look up!"... I look up.. and I could see the parachute crumple before my eyes.. and feel us falling very rapidly. He then said, "let go!".. and I did.. and we jerked in mid air as the chute caught air again. We did this again another time. This was the same guy that put us on crazy turns.. yanking hard left.. will make you go upside down. You look up - see your chute (filled, at least), and see the ground as well. Just freaky. When I landed, I asked one of the other instructors if they do those stalls.. and he just said, "If my chute opens.. I'm happy.. nobody else does that." I about [censored] my pants when I heard that. Oh, and a friend of mine got that guy - and he did the same thing.. and it looked terrifying from the ground.
They seemed to love screwing with newbies as well. On my 3rd jump, I was with a friend who was going on her 2nd jump.. and was getting very nervous. A bunch of people just landed and were carrying their chutes into the facility. Guy walks by, pretending not to see us.. stops, and says with surprise as he's holding his chute, "Ah... worked again." My friend ran to the bathroom to empty her gut.
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