16,200 ft above the ground and falling

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Planes are designed to be sat in. Clearly. So why jump out of one? Really?

Well today I found out by jumping out of a plane at 15,000ft. Well, 16,200ft to be precise as Queenstown lies at about 1,200 feet above sea level.

The day couldn't have been better for the jump. Hardly a cloud in the sky, the remarkables with a fine dusting of snow and a not-too-cold air temperature. 9 of us piled into the small plane (3x2 tandem jumpers, 3 cameramen) sitting in each others laps and started the slow spiralling ascent. The view was getting better and better the higher we went, and I was really excited about the jump. At 9,000 ft the first jumper went, then at 12,000 ft the next went. It was just me left to jump then. I was passed a plastic hose of oxygen for the last 2,000 ft although I didnt really notice the lack of breathable air.

Then it was time to sit on the door ledge, look up and wait. Then we jumped. I hadn't been scared up until this point, and infact I wasnt scared when we left the plane but the shere amount of adrenalin coarsing through my veins suggested otherwise! The wind was rushing past my face at a vast race of knots, a feeling about 100x what you feel putting your hand out of a car window! Then it was time to start pulling face, acting scared etc and generally making an arse of ones self. In the last few seconds of freefall my goggles dislodged slightly and my eyes filled with water....

... and then peace. Apart from the brief jerk when the chute was pulled everything became calm. There was no noise apart from a brief flapping when we banked, just peace. It was very surreal to still be a long way off the ground and seemingly just hanging there. And then we were down. A fast way to spend money... an even faster way to get down from 15,000ft! It was a unique feeling - and I would recommend everyone to try it at least once. And what better setting than the mountains around Queenstown?

In the afternoon I decided to save some money and get some exercise and head off up Queenstown hill (907m) to see the sunset. I arrived at the top early, so walked around enjoying the view, and sat doing sudoku waiting for the sun to set. When it did finally set I could hardly feel my hands, and the sunset was a little dissapointing as clouds were preventing the remarkables from taking on their trademark orange glow. Ah well, you can't have everything all in one day!

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