Life is too short so I hear! You can spend most your life wishing or
just make it all happen. No Fear is an encouraging term, energetic and
meaningful.
When it comes to Skydiving the term is ironic.
Those who claim to have no fear are either stupid or liars. It is
normal to be afraid specially if you voluntarily jump off a perfectly
good airplane. Skydiving is an unforgiving sport. You either like it or
hate it, either way you must treat it with respect. It is an extreme
sport that allows for no errors. When you skydive you dont get to
search for the edge. You are on the edge! riding a fine line between
life and death. Your body drops at 120 miles per hour and in the minute
that the jump lasts you will experience literally every second of that
fall.
Skydiving humbles even the most arrogant. So why do it?
Skydiving is a skill that has been utilized for several reasons over
many decades. Originally, it was reserved for military purposes. It
allows the, stealth, element of surprise advantage over the enemy.
Skydiving is also used in fire fighting. Fire fighters also known as,
Fire Jumpers, perform surgical landings into strategic locations that
may facilitate success when firing fires. Technology has boosted
Skydiving to a new level. Now you can test your skills through
competitions; from acrobatic demonstrations, to base jumping to
precision landing.
Tandem Jump How do you
getting into it? There are hundreds of schools (drop zones) in the US
and around the world that offer the proper training and instruction.
Also, a novice can gain a first experience from the sport: through a or
an Accelerated Free Fall training series and in a skydiving training
wind tunnel. If you choose to learn in a Wind Tunnel, you will go
through the learning curve with more confidence. Wind Tunnel offers you
a controlled environment and less risk of injury. Some places will
charge an hourly fee for each session in wind tunnel. Dont be so
concerned about the price; it is costly to go on your first jumps,
actually all the way up to your 9th jump.
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Acrobatic jumpThe
price ranges from $140 to $190 per jump, per person. However, renting
the equipment is not as expensive. Once you complete about 7 levels of
training you are more likely to love it and maybe qualify for your
license to skydive. Yes, you can then call yourself a Skydiver and save
money on your future jumps as well. The jumps will cost only $18
dollars after you have gained your certificate and license.
How
about the experience? The instructors are world famous personalities
who have hundreds, even thousands of jumps under their belts. They have
mastered the sport and will be able to show you the necessary skills
and ensure your safety and vest your knowledge. Once your registration,
orientation and safety training is taken cared of. It is time to decide
which type of jump you will do: Tandem (one hour class) or Accelerated
Free Fall Assisted Jump (six hours ground training). With a tandem
jump, your harness gets secured to your instructors harness. Basically,
you go along for the ride while your instructor does all the work.
On
the other hand an assisted jump involves 6 hours of ground training and
two master skydivers jump with you holding you by each side help
correct your dynamics and posture while falling and make sure you will
deploy your parachute at the right time.
Ground training is an
experience in itself. It consists of a thorough lecture regarding the
equipment, communication, navigation, safety, mechanics while falling,
basic physics, landing, and last but not least dos and donts in case of
emergency. Soon after your class and weather permitting, you get to don
your skydiving suit and rig (parachute pack) and wait to board the
airplane.
If the conditions are right, your airplane will take
you to an altitude of 14,000 feet. When you reach the right altitude
and drop off position in relation to your landing zone, your pilot will
give you the okay to jump and off you go at 120 miles per hour. In
approximately a minute you will have dropped 8,000 feet, circle of
awareness checks. At 6,000 feet you wave off your instructors and other
skydivers in your close proximity. That will alert all that your next
move is to deploy your main parachute. Immediately after you pull your
pilot, in fractions of seconds your parachute deploys while you count
for 5 seconds and inspect if it will inflate. Once your parachute is
inflated and you have tested it through a gentle toggles pull, you are
good to start your navigation and approach to the landing zone.
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This
part is more like a roller coaster ride except that you dont get to
climb anymore, just keep dropping altitude. Now all you have to do is
navigate with and against the wind controlling your direction as you
get closer to the landing zone. All you have to do is stir clear off
the tall structures like trees, power lines or towers and houses or
buildings and you are will be just well on to a good landing. Before
you know it is time to flare and touch down. Remember to bend your
knees to cushion your impact against the ground.
Navigating to the landing zone How about my experience?
There I was in my second jump and counting 5 seconds and my parachute
did not inflate. Instead it bunched up as I continued to drop for
another 1,500 feet. The instructions called for cutting away the main
parachute and deploying the reserves. Lucky me! It worked and I could
continue on to navigate towards my landing zone. From that day on, I
never did see the sky the same way, nor did I feel about life the same.
Life if short! And one should never let fears and excuses hold you back
from reaching your dream. I found out that I loved it. This is a true
story. It is time to do it again!
By: Jonathan Rosillo Courtesy of: http://divhiker.com/
Tags:
skydiving Sport extreme Life 
