antonlavey
Banned
- 28,211
- 847
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2008
Got up this morning late,.....my appointment was for 11 and this place is like an hour 30 away. I'm pissed that I have to drive for miles through hick country for this.
I get there, people are nice, friendly, welcoming....they give me a waiver to sign that's like 5 pages. I attempt to read it, and dude tells me don't bother.....just sign your life away.
I watch my boy who got there first land, he said it wasn't that bad which calmed my nerves a little bit.
My instructor is that dude, but he's a little loopy and i suspect he might have been drinking or hungover but with 2000+ jumps under his belt I decide to trust him.
Some dude kept making jokes about death, and his instructor was like "F that, I'm not jumping with this dude"
I put the gear on, it was a bit tight around my nuts and it was constricting my femoral artery. He gives me instructions on jumping out of the plane, my body position during the free fall and how to navigate the shoot.
THE PLANE RIDE
This is when the reality of what I was about to do hit me
.....the pilot went up to 15000 feet (about 2+ miles up) and I start having second thoughts. My instructor asked me if I was nervous, and I said nah (obviously a lie). It's cold, i start getting high altitude ear pains and my heart is racing......the death metal music they started blasting on the plane surprisingly calmed me down and gave me the courage I needed. He goes over instructions again, everyone on the plane daps each other up (talkin' bout this may be the last time you ever see these guys again-like who says that
) and started heading for the door.
THE POINT OF NO RETURN
I get to the plane door....and this was my exact reaction
. I get on my knees, he taps me on the back and counts to three and I just went for it. Mid jump I start thinking to myself (wth am I doing...this is stupid as hell
)
FREE FALL AND LANDING
The most exhilarating experience of my life...the emotion running through my mind was a perfect blend of fear and ecstacy. Once the parachute deployed, a moment of expression of relief was shared by both my instructor and I. I was surprised at his reaction, cause he does this like 20 times a day.
He teaches me how the steer the chute, and makes me do a few 360 twirls (I almost vomited in mid-air, I was so nauseous). As we proceed he tells me i have to tuck in my leg for landing or I may break both of them.....The way he kept stressing this on the way down got me a little worried, I was apprehending the landing but breaking my legs is still a lot better than the chute not deploying.
Landed safely and like getting off a rollercoaster...I was ready to do it again.
I would recommend everyone do this at least once in their lifetime....I think I'm pushing it but I'm already planning for a solo dive.
I get there, people are nice, friendly, welcoming....they give me a waiver to sign that's like 5 pages. I attempt to read it, and dude tells me don't bother.....just sign your life away.
I watch my boy who got there first land, he said it wasn't that bad which calmed my nerves a little bit.
My instructor is that dude, but he's a little loopy and i suspect he might have been drinking or hungover but with 2000+ jumps under his belt I decide to trust him.
Some dude kept making jokes about death, and his instructor was like "F that, I'm not jumping with this dude"
I put the gear on, it was a bit tight around my nuts and it was constricting my femoral artery. He gives me instructions on jumping out of the plane, my body position during the free fall and how to navigate the shoot.
THE PLANE RIDE
This is when the reality of what I was about to do hit me
THE POINT OF NO RETURN
I get to the plane door....and this was my exact reaction
FREE FALL AND LANDING
The most exhilarating experience of my life...the emotion running through my mind was a perfect blend of fear and ecstacy. Once the parachute deployed, a moment of expression of relief was shared by both my instructor and I. I was surprised at his reaction, cause he does this like 20 times a day.
He teaches me how the steer the chute, and makes me do a few 360 twirls (I almost vomited in mid-air, I was so nauseous). As we proceed he tells me i have to tuck in my leg for landing or I may break both of them.....The way he kept stressing this on the way down got me a little worried, I was apprehending the landing but breaking my legs is still a lot better than the chute not deploying.
Landed safely and like getting off a rollercoaster...I was ready to do it again.
I would recommend everyone do this at least once in their lifetime....I think I'm pushing it but I'm already planning for a solo dive.
