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Published: August 3rd 2008
(Please scroll down to see videos below)
Sooo.... skydiving. Definitely something I've wanted to do for awhile, but for various reasons haven't (timing, money, busyness, etc.).
Last week I watched the birth of a niece. Why not go skydiving this weekend?
The two weeks before I was driving/riding in a car for about 40 hours and traversed ~2300 miles... that was on the weekends. The rest was work and so much else.
Which led up to last week. Last week I was on a torrential push to get things done. Here is the quick rundown.... Besides accomplishing various things at work (and it being a good week at work), I got signed up for voice lessons in addition to the piano lessons I started four weeks ago. I picked the lock on a filing cabinet that has been locked for almost a year (only to discover it was empty). I pushed myself in the gym and played some Ultimate Frisbee. Contacted the office manager of the townhouse neighborhood I live in to get my air ducts cleaned (last tenants were smokers and I've just been putting up with the residual smell... too busy, too much else to think about, gone half the time, etc.). Signed up for a refresher course for scuba diving (God willing, I'm planning to go on a diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef in December). I also went to the rock climbing gym, got a good work out, and plan soon to take technique and lead climbing lessons (and probably buy an annual membership).
Mix in there a piano lesson, practicing during the week, playing BrainChallenge, and listening to a lesson of Coffee Break Spanish every day, and I was exhausted by Friday.
In all of that, Skydiving was back on my radar. I had for awhile known about Skydive, Inc. (www.skydiveinc.com) from their booth at the mall. I even called once, left a message, and didn't hear back. But last week I called again and scheduled the time for 11 AM on Saturday (earlier today). I think that was on Tuesday, so it gave me plenty of time to be apprehensive about the jump.
This morning (Saturday/jump-day) I got up and methodically prepared for the day. Somewhat nervous. I took some ginger to help prevent motion sickness from occurring on the plane ride (which turned out to be a small four seater Cessna... but had all the seats except the pilot's taken out so it could fit five people). I then drove about an hour to Hastings, MI to Skydive, Inc. (at the Hastings Airport).
It has been a beautiful day... about 80 degrees and mostly blue skies with scattered clouds.
Once at Skydive Inc. I filled out a bunch of paper work which asked me to initial away my rights and reminded me frequently that serious injury or death could occur and neither me nor my family would hold them liable for anything. Gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. But at this point I was blocking emotions and thinking more about and focusing on the task at hand (else adrenaline from anticipation about the events forthcoming would flood my bloodstream).
After getting signed up, I waited and watched the last group slowly descend down from the sky and land. I then met my instructor/tandem partner/guy-with-the-parachute (Matt - 775 jumps), videographer (Bart - 1,000+ jumps), the pilot (John), and another guy learning how to shoot skydiving videos (Bill, I think, and over 1,500 jumps).
In the hangar, Matt took me through what I needed to know to do the jump and we practiced in a partial plane (frame and cockpit with a wing on one side); watching the video later on I realized how concerned I looked; I REALLY wanted to make sure I knew what I should be doing up there. They told after the jump that they thought I was going to panic somewhere in the process.
I asked some questions related to the gear, safety features, how I was hooked up to him (we were hooked together at four different harness points, enough to give me confidence that I would be very well secured to the guy with the parachute). 😊
We then headed to the Cessna and loaded in. The pilot started the engine, it got very loud from the prop, and then we started moving. We looped around, readied for takeoff, and then started the takeoff on the grass; first time, I think, that I've taken-off on grass (there was a regular runway, but for some reason we used the grass).
Up we went. I was a little nervous about the plane. I'm used to, um, bigger planes. To keep my emotions in check I talked and thought about other things and ran through my mind the steps I needed to soon take.
The ascent to 10,000 feet took about 20 minutes. I was periodically watching the altimeters on their wrists... 3,000... 5,000... 8,000... 9,000. Intermittently watching the ground visibly become further and further away and then below the clouds.
When it was nearing time to go, I turned around and Matt hooked me in. I was then facing the videographer. He then opened the door (which opened upwards rather than out to the side). It was then even louder, windy, and I could see below me to the ground 10,000 feet down.
The videographer stepped out and grabbed a pair of handles attached to the strut. I then moved forward and placed my foot on a little platform and then grabbed the strut. The instructor then grabbed the strut, as well, and tapped me on my shoulder (signaling me to let go and cross my arms). The instructor, still holding the strut, rocked us back and forth a few times and then he let go....
and we did two falling backflips;
free falling.
After two backflips he tapped both my shoulders, which signaled me to uncross my arms and arch my back ( while making an "X" with my arms and legs. This helps to stabilize the fall and make sure we were facing the ground in preparation for opening the parachute.
We were in a free fall for 30 seconds and then Matt deployed the parachute. The deployment was surprising at first... very fast slow down. Somewhat unexpected... strange since, well, that thing really needs to happen and you would think I would be anticipating it. But I was mentally immersed in and enjoying the falling part.
As far as specific, clear thoughts, there weren't many except focusing on what I was instructed to do. The experience was crazy exhilarating. Intense. So very intense.
So, what was going on verbally? Mainly I was (excitedly) yelling, cursing, and somewhere in there shouting "Holy Mother of Mary". I've been trying to limit less, ahem, refined language lately... but, really, it wasn't the time to work on giving that up. 😉
As we hung up high in the sky and above the clouds, we talked a bit and I looked around at the Michigan countryside below my feet and also up at the parachute. Matt made some adjustments and was good about letting me know what was going on since these adjustments entailed a slight dropping jerk on both sides of me. He also told me that, paraphrasing, I did a great job and handled it very well (I was never worried about panicking or freaking out, but it was quite surreal sitting in the Cessna ascending for 20 minutes and knowing that, for me, the way down would be outside of the plane).
We then headed for a cloud and floated through it... feeling the cloud's moisture lightly cover my face and arms. I've seen so many clouds up close on so many flights. But I've never felt and touched the clouds, which had been another dream of mine; while I've been through clouds on mountains, this is, obviously, a totally different experience.
We slowly descended the rest of the way. My heart rate and breathing was at a very high rate. Matt asked if I was okay, but I was just pretty excited and I told him that I'd let him know if I got dizzy (hyperventilating).
We practiced how we would be landing... he would kind of flair the parachute so that we would come to a stop, during which I would lift my legs up so he could touch down.
We then made the rest of the slow descent and touched down without an problems.
----------------------------------
After landing, my whole body felt like it had been jolted and drained. My hands were shaking a little bit. And it was tough to even get thoughts around what had just happened. Even tougher to explain it to someone else.
Would I do it again? Yes. Tomorrow or next week, no.
A part of me wants to do this a lot, and a part of me is more pragmatic. More of this probably means less for something else (both in time, money, and focus).
Watching it and thinking about it, I smile and feel hints of the intensity and exhilaration. It was another metaphorical mountain for me to overcome and addressing fears of falling, heights, and death. Today, I faced down those fears head on and went right into and through them. 😊 It was totally, absolutely, positively worth it.
NOTE: Please see the videos below for video of the jump.
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Celeste in Missouri
non-member comment
Awesome!
Great account of it all! You didn't seem nervous or anything. I thought your voice at the end sounded hilarious! You are much braver than me.