My Skydiving Pictures
On January 18, 1997, I went skydiving for the first time, jumping
from a plane at 12,500 feet and falling at a top speed of 120 mph.
It was a tandem jump, which means that I was attached to an
instructor who pulled the ripcord and steered the chute to a safe
landing.
It was quite an experience. I was extremely nervous beforehand,
wondering what it would be like. I don't actually remember a lot
of it, since it was so disorienting, strange, and intense. I didn't
like free fall quite so much, since there was so much air blowing in
my face, and was glad when the ripcord got pulled. After the parachute
was open, it was a lot of fun to glide down to a safe landing.
I went with a large group from work, so I got to see everyone else land
as well.
A lot of the people I went with thought it was an awesome experience,
and couldn't wait to go again. I didn't get quite so excited about it,
but it was definitely a fascinating experience, and I'm glad I did it.
I don't think I'm really cut out to be a skydiver though. I get much
more adrenalin from a good quake deathmatch. :)
I went once more, and I remembered more of the free fall and enjoyed
it a lot more, but unfortunately I decided it would be fun to ask the
tandemmaster (the guy I was jumping with) to do a lot of rolls and
spirals.
I quickly got really sick, and almost threw up in the air. For some
reason I forgot that I get motion sick pretty easily. So I think I'll
be staying on the ground for a while. If I do go again, I'm going to
definitely take it easy and enjoy the scenery.
I went with Blue Sky Adventures in Paso Robles, CA. You can reach
them at (805) 239-3483 (sorry, no web page). They took the following
pictures on my first trip, and also shot a (very nicely edited) video.
(I didn't bother with pictures or a video on my second trip.)
I highly recommend them.
just before leaving the plane
great shot of us falling with the plane speeding away in the background
in free fall
still in free fall, pretty much
after the drogue chute has opened (tandem jumps use a small parachute
for stability and to slow the jumpers down to a reasonable speed,
partly so the cameraman can keep up)
my pathetic attempt to do a "swim towards the camera" effect
looks like the chute is starting to open...
it's open now...
one last shot of us from the cameraman as he falls past us.
(He has a longer free fall because he needs to land first
in order to film the landing. Sorry, no stills of that.)
