Skydiving
 

Anyone here ever gone skydiving? I am planning my first dive on April 16th, 2005 to celebrate my 19th birthday. I'm wondering if anyone else wants to dive. If I like it I will try to start a club and get more people I know into it. I think it's a very awesome sport which is also very safe. Any thoughts? Any prospective jumpers?

oohhh, I've jumped, it rocks. definitely one of the funnest things I've done in my life, freefalling is just...heaven for me

I've been skydiving once in my life. It was a tandem jump from about 14000 feet, with an approximate 60 second freefall. The freefall is definitely the greatest part of it all.

I was, admittedly, pretty nervous on the plane ride up, but as soon as you're out the door, all worries disappear. There's the initial feeling of falling in your stomach (like on a rollercoaster), and then it's just replaced with a feeling that's completely indescribable. It is, without a doubt, worth every cent.

My advice, though, would be to take a motion sickness pill or two before the jump. We had maybe a five minute descent in the parachute, and the whole time I felt a little nauseous. Perhaps I'm just more prone to that than others, but I still think it wouldn't hurt.

What sort of jump are you planning? From how high? Are you planning on getting your license?

I've wanted to sky dive for a long time. A friend of mine was a green beret and always tells me stories about how he had to sky dive. It sounds awesome, and I really want to do it. At least once before I die.

I'd like a minute free fall if possible. If that costs too much I will settle for a 30-second fall.

As far as I know newbies have to do tandem jumps. I think it's the law, or just good practice. So I will do that.

If I really love it (i'm sure i will) i will pursue a license. But that can cost a lot of money, like 1500 dollars. I, being a poor college student, will have to hold off on that if i decide to do that. but, yeah, definately. should rock. all the videos i've seen don't really do it justice from the stories i've heard.

It is possible for beginners to do solo jumps. There's the static line jump, but those are generally more dangerous, because there's a greater possibility for things to go wrong. Not to mention they're not nearly as much fun, because you have virtually no freefall. Additionally, there's the solo freefall, where you receive quite a bit of training and then jump with two instructors.

I had to pay 160 dollars for my tandem jump, but they try to encourage you to return by lowering the prices of each consecutive jump; the next one is 140, the next one after that 130 and so on and so forth.

The only problem with obtaining a license, at least at the place I went to, was that if you didn't keep jumping within 30 days of your previous jump, you'd have to pay $100 or so for a 'refresher' course before you could continue advancing. I don't know if this was strictly a local thing, or if it's a USPA standard. If that's the case, if and when you decide to get a license, it could save you some money by setting side a month or two for all your jumps to get certified.

You'll be high for a week after you jump, and dying to do another one as quick as possible. Be prepared to be unable to explain it to anybody else.

That is awesome. You make me want to do it even more. Thanks for the advice.

I have a terrible habit of having panic attacks when I worry about something too much beforehand and then go through with it anyway. I can't breathe and can't feel my legs. It's reminiscent of what I like to think of as a heart attack.

The reason I don't want to skydive ever is because I would probably pass out on the way down, maybe throwing up a few seconds before. I'm also ridiculously frightened of stuff like that. I always respect people who like to do that sort of stuff. As you can see, I'm not much for rollercoasters either. :rolleyes:

Really, I get scared easily, but Skydiving, I wouldn't mind, Bungie Jumping terrorfies the crap out of me though.

Some things scare some of us. I have never been on a rollercoaster before but I am going to start conquering my fears. Life's too short to be afraid. Death before hesitation.