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Saturday started by getting up way too early. A big group of us gathered to go skydiving.
First we drove a long way out west of town, stopped at the gas station time forgot, discovered the strangeness that is pancake-on-a-stick, and drove even more.
The majority of the time at the skydiving place was spent standing in like, standing outside, standing on the observation deck watching the sky, etc. The place was nice, if poorly organized. It took several hours for us to start getting added to flights up.
After several hours Alex, Cynthia and Diana got to go first. Alex wore his normal clothes, Cynthia was given a t-shirt and clown shoes and Diana got the full superhero-skydiver jumpsuit setup. They took off and we got to wait.
Watching the sky for parachutes is kind of dull at first. You stare up and see nothing, then all of a sudden a series of brightly colored dots pop out in the sky. The people going alone come in first, while the tandem divers take longer. After several minutes of lazy circles they landed with a graceful, butt-first landing.
All three wandered around with the shining eyes of a happy adrenaline buzz. Finally it was my turn. I put on the harness with the help of Mike, my incredibly happy tandem partner. We walk out to the plane and climb in. Two benches load up with tandem jumpers and a team of solo divers pile on the floor in front of me.
The ride up was fun, with only a bit of nervousness. I was a lot more excited than scared. Two of the solo jumpers tried teasing me about having a guy strapped to my ass for the next 10 minutes. One of them, a graying 50ish ex-hippie looking guy was doing some strange motions that looked like tai-chi, or slow motion breakdancing. Close to 15,000 feet the team assembled in what looked like a complicated group hug and then jumped. Now it was my turn. I squat in the doorway with Mike strapped to my back. Lean out, lean in then GO!
The first thing you do is start a flip. At the time it seemed like this:
SKY! CLOUD! GROUND! SKY! CLOUD! GROUND! SKY! CLOUD! GROUND!
Somewhere between 2 and 20 seconds later I remember I'm supposed to open into a belly-flop position and I do. Now I'm heading toward the ground at around 120 miles and hour. The wind is roaring in my ears louder than anything I've ever heard. It's nice and cool after 4 hours on the ground in 90 degree heat.
Freefall is amazing. You know the unsteady, panicky feeling you get in your stomach when you begin to fall? It's nothing like that. The first second may be, but then you have a 120 mph headwind reminding you which way is down. At that height you can't see the changes in altitude. You are floating in space with a guy strapped to your ass and a cold, howling wind surrounding you. I loved it.
I look down and see a cloud below. It seems tiny. Then it gets bigger, I shoot into it and realize it's a couple hundred feet thick. I shoot through it in a second or two.
Around 5000 feet I hear Mike yell in my ear. It sounds like "PULL!" "PULL?" I yell back. He scream something that may be "NO!" or "GO!" or something and then the parachute is opening. My ass, previously on the same level as my head, is suddenly right below me. The thigh straps of the harness feel like they are going to pull my hips out of joint.
Suddenly 120 mph is about 10 mph. I'm a bit uncomfortable as my legs are squeezed by the harness, but the view makes me forget. I can see everything for miles.
We glide down, taking lazy loops and turns. I can see the grey outline of downtown Atlanta in a rainstorm and then turn to the hazy blur of Alabama mountains in the distance.
As the landing zone approaches we curve in to a graceful landing. Mike yanks the steering lines and we throw our legs into the air. We land butt-first with less impact than falling out of a chair.
I don't know how long the whole adventure was. Freefall seemed over way too fast (it was apparently about 45 seconds) and the descent seemed to last 2-3 minutes (probably more like 5-7). I felt the happy adrenaline buzz for hours after. I'll be back to jump again.
First we drove a long way out west of town, stopped at the gas station time forgot, discovered the strangeness that is pancake-on-a-stick, and drove even more.
The majority of the time at the skydiving place was spent standing in like, standing outside, standing on the observation deck watching the sky, etc. The place was nice, if poorly organized. It took several hours for us to start getting added to flights up.
After several hours Alex, Cynthia and Diana got to go first. Alex wore his normal clothes, Cynthia was given a t-shirt and clown shoes and Diana got the full superhero-skydiver jumpsuit setup. They took off and we got to wait.
Watching the sky for parachutes is kind of dull at first. You stare up and see nothing, then all of a sudden a series of brightly colored dots pop out in the sky. The people going alone come in first, while the tandem divers take longer. After several minutes of lazy circles they landed with a graceful, butt-first landing.
All three wandered around with the shining eyes of a happy adrenaline buzz. Finally it was my turn. I put on the harness with the help of Mike, my incredibly happy tandem partner. We walk out to the plane and climb in. Two benches load up with tandem jumpers and a team of solo divers pile on the floor in front of me.
The ride up was fun, with only a bit of nervousness. I was a lot more excited than scared. Two of the solo jumpers tried teasing me about having a guy strapped to my ass for the next 10 minutes. One of them, a graying 50ish ex-hippie looking guy was doing some strange motions that looked like tai-chi, or slow motion breakdancing. Close to 15,000 feet the team assembled in what looked like a complicated group hug and then jumped. Now it was my turn. I squat in the doorway with Mike strapped to my back. Lean out, lean in then GO!
The first thing you do is start a flip. At the time it seemed like this:
SKY! CLOUD! GROUND! SKY! CLOUD! GROUND! SKY! CLOUD! GROUND!
Somewhere between 2 and 20 seconds later I remember I'm supposed to open into a belly-flop position and I do. Now I'm heading toward the ground at around 120 miles and hour. The wind is roaring in my ears louder than anything I've ever heard. It's nice and cool after 4 hours on the ground in 90 degree heat.
Freefall is amazing. You know the unsteady, panicky feeling you get in your stomach when you begin to fall? It's nothing like that. The first second may be, but then you have a 120 mph headwind reminding you which way is down. At that height you can't see the changes in altitude. You are floating in space with a guy strapped to your ass and a cold, howling wind surrounding you. I loved it.
I look down and see a cloud below. It seems tiny. Then it gets bigger, I shoot into it and realize it's a couple hundred feet thick. I shoot through it in a second or two.
Around 5000 feet I hear Mike yell in my ear. It sounds like "PULL!" "PULL?" I yell back. He scream something that may be "NO!" or "GO!" or something and then the parachute is opening. My ass, previously on the same level as my head, is suddenly right below me. The thigh straps of the harness feel like they are going to pull my hips out of joint.
Suddenly 120 mph is about 10 mph. I'm a bit uncomfortable as my legs are squeezed by the harness, but the view makes me forget. I can see everything for miles.
We glide down, taking lazy loops and turns. I can see the grey outline of downtown Atlanta in a rainstorm and then turn to the hazy blur of Alabama mountains in the distance.
As the landing zone approaches we curve in to a graceful landing. Mike yanks the steering lines and we throw our legs into the air. We land butt-first with less impact than falling out of a chair.
I don't know how long the whole adventure was. Freefall seemed over way too fast (it was apparently about 45 seconds) and the descent seemed to last 2-3 minutes (probably more like 5-7). I felt the happy adrenaline buzz for hours after. I'll be back to jump again.
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And yeah... freefall is over SO fast... but even when they do freefall tests for astronauts, dragging them WAAAAAAY up into the atmosphere in capsules, they only get about 60 seconds of freefall at a time.
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We had a group of 9 and it was about $145 each, tax included, for a 14,500 ft tandem dive.
They have a 7 jump certification course for $150 per jump. It may take me a while, but I plan to do it.