0
grannyinthesky

Not too old, I hope!

Recommended Posts

Pat - I am glad you started this thread and have kept adding to it over time. You are a great example for all of us. I started skydiving at age 49, relatively young compared to your starting age. I unfortunately had an interruption right after I finished AFF and ended up taking a 9 month hiatus. Now I am back jumping again at age 50. I really enjoy skydiving and hope to stay active with this hobby for a long time. Your experience certainly removes any age related excuses. Stay active and keep reporting on your experiences and advancements.

Blue skies!
The meaning of life . . . is to make life have meaning.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Seeing the thread come up again inspired me to read through it. What an adventure this is! I've met quite some of the people who posted here and I've got more I plan on meeting. Reading about things I did sure brings them back. I do have occassional moments of frustration when it takes me longer to get the hang of something than it probably would have 20 years ago, but it sure doesn't discourage me for long. I am definitely keeping on jumping..... nine jumps last week and it's still the first part of March.... not too bad. Sure hope you have as much fun as I've been having. :)

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Hmmmmmm.... I just wanted to say that I guess I wasn't too old to start skydiving since it's now 3 years and 757 skydives later and I'm still at it. :):)



That is awesome. CongratsB|

Blue skies
Speedracer~I predict that Michael Jackson will rise from the dead.
And that a giant radioactive duck will emerge from the ocean and eat Baltimore.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Hmmmmmm.... I just wanted to say that I guess I wasn't too old to start skydiving since it's now 3 years and 757 skydives later and I'm still at it. :):)



How do you get so many jumps in living in Idaho? Doesn't it get cold there in the winter?

I'd also love to hear more about your journey. What sort of jumps are you mostly doing now? RW, FF, CReW? And what was your progression like? Any bumps along the way? Most memorable jumps?

Do tell please! :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Hmmmmmm.... I just wanted to say that I guess I wasn't too old to start skydiving since it's now 3 years and 757 skydives later and I'm still at it. :):)



How do you get so many jumps in living in Idaho? Doesn't it get cold there in the winter?

I'd also love to hear more about your journey. What sort of jumps are you mostly doing now? RW, FF, CReW? And what was your progression like? Any bumps along the way? Most memorable jumps?

Do tell please! :)


Oh, yes, it does get cold in Idaho in winter. In fact, I even started AFF Thanksgiving weekend. It made the first 10 or so jumps really difficult to get between cold, clouds, snow, wind.. but I was a bit stubborn and stayed with it. It took until the end of April to get those first 10 jumps. My progression was really pretty uneventful, except for landing. I had a knack for not getting to where I was supposed to. I learned how to pick a nice field to land in quite early. I did do a bit of tunnel time during a period when it was too cold for my AFF instructor.

Getting the number of jumps I have has been challenging. I do a lot of hop n'pops. I love all parts of a skydive, so a nice canopy ride is perfectly acceptable. I'm also able to do a fair amount of travelling. I've jumped in 11 states so far and hope to get to a few more next year.

I mostly do RW, but occasionally try to freefly. I think it is more like freeflailing, but it's sure fun to try. I'll get the hang of it one of these days. I've tried a bit of CReW and hope to do more next spring. I started doing a bit of camera flying this summer and that's definitelty something I want to continue doing.

I think my most memorable jump was a balloon jump where I exited from 2000 feet. The balloon pilot didn't have his instructions right and kept going down and telling us to get out every 500 feet. I figured since a pilot could tell me to get out of the plane at that level in an emergency and since I'd done previous balloon and heli jumps and had no stability issues and since my Pilot has such sweet openings that I'd go for it. I actually had about 5 seconds of freefall before I pulled and had about a minute and a half to pick the field I wanted to land in. It's made me think that next summer, for my 1000th jump, I may just have to go try a BASE jump off the bridge in Twin Falls.

I'm having a great time and sure hope I've got another 10 years to go... I've been on an SOS (Skydivers over Sixty) record jump. I'd like to try for one for the over 70 group, too.
"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I also started late at 53 years old. That was 13 years ago and I currently have 3000 skydives including many state, national and world record skydives.
i also do video for 4 and 8 way teams. I have been to the Nationals for the last 7 years and have a silver medal in 8 way and a bronze in 4 way.
I am on the big way circuit and have done 41 jumps of 100 or more in them.
I will be in Deland next month doing the pop's 130 way record attempt.
Age is just a number. I am 66 but feel 35 because I am so active in Racquetball, skiing, scuba diving and skydiving year round.
Live the dream and start those jumps
ASAP.
You are only as good as you think you are.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Somehow, I couldn't resist updating my first post on dz.com. I apparently wasn't too old. Last weekend I did my 1000th skydive with some awesome crw dawgs at Elsinore. It has been an amazing adventure... great friends, fun jumps, tall tales around the bonfire. I bet the next 1000 will be as great as the first 1000. :)B|

"safety first... and What the hell.....
safety second, Too!!! " ~~jmy

POPS #10490

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
This thread was a good one for me to read . A few weeks ago I posted my short little intro to the forums . I will be 52 next week and realize I am not getting any younger to do this kind of stuff but also know you are really never too old to do what interests you . I am dying to start AFF training but right now my wife and I are focused on planning a trip to Hawaii to do lots of scuba diving so I think it will probably happen in the fall . Until then I will keep reading the forums here and learning all I can .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Somehow, I couldn't resist updating my first post on dz.com. I apparently wasn't too old. Last weekend I did my 1000th skydive with some awesome crw dawgs at Elsinore. It has been an amazing adventure... great friends, fun jumps, tall tales around the bonfire. I bet the next 1000 will be as great as the first 1000. :)B|



Damn, it would have been nice to be there to give you a 2nd pieing.>:( Your 100th seemed just like yesterday.

Congrats Pat.
50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Last weekend I did my 1000th skydive with some awesome crw dawgs at Elsinore. It has been an amazing adventure... great friends, fun jumps, tall tales around the bonfire. I bet the next 1000 will be as great as the first 1000. :)B|



Congratulations on your 1000th!

I am 60 and am jumping on a fairly competitive 4-way team this year. Dream the life and live the dream! Woohoo!!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0