Does it Ever Blow Your mind??

[FallinWoman 1]

I was just looking at mountainman's pics from freefall. My first thought was, "What a crazy mother f****r."
Then I realized that I have done just that thing 70+ times.
Does it ever just amaze you what it is that we do?? We voluntarily leave an airplane, speeding towards the earth at 120mph, and trust that one or the other chute will save us.
I think we are all crazy.
Of course, I cannot wait to jump again on Saturday.
just random thoughts,
Anne

[Michele 1]

Yes, it does. Each time I make it out the door, it surprises me. This thing we do, flying through the air (you only go 120? lol), flying like we did in our childhood dreams, you bet it blows my mind.
And I love it.
ciel bleu-
Michele

[DZBone 0]

We do?!!?
Holy fuck, YOU'RE RIGHT!!!!!
Damn!

[phatcat 0]

Well I won’t speak for anybody else but I already know I’M crazy! And skydiving made me that way. I dunno, I used to be normal, than I jumped out of a plane, got the crap scared out of me, and now, for some reason that can only attributed to insanity, I want to do it more. No, I NEED to do it more. I redo the FJC on Sept. 8 and start AFF over again and I’m so freakin stoked to throw my ass out of a plane again. Why? Why not?!?! Oh, and by the way, even though the course is pushed back a month from when I actually wanted to jump again (last weekend), it’s actually a good thing, because by then I should have enough money to do the whole AFF course and still have some left over for beer. How cool is that???? Josh
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" - Helen Keller

[nimbus 0]

It blew my mind so much I woke up a few times in the middle of the night going "F*&k! What the hell did I do that for?" I got so freaked I couldn't even think about it without my hands going clammy and holding my breath. But something happened in my mind last weekend (not drugs or alcohol!) and now I can't wait to go jumping out of that plane in a few days... although it might be a different proposition when I see the screaming sky through the open door...
Yes the crazy thing is, no-one is forcing me to do this, or to even consider it!
Safe jumps to everyone...
Larissa

[FallingMarc 0]

What strikes me as crazy is that I feel the most sane after a day of jumping. I've always believed that random stupidity from time to time was great for keeping one's sanity(blowing something up just for the hell of it, throwing random objects into a ceiling fan with an unsuspecting friend sitting under it, etc...). But damn, taking an airplane ride, opening the door in flight, and just getting out. You're right, that's hard to beat for wierd logic.
Marc

[PLFKING 3]

Anne --
It blows my mind every weekend.
Driving to the DZ gives me a couple of hours to anticipate stepping out of that plane for the first jump of the day, knowing how terminal is going to feel, looking forward to that opening shock that represents another life saved, soaring over the hangars and runway, looking down at the black dots that represented me a mere half-hour ago -- watching someone else in this same position in the sky and knowing exactly how they were feeling, even though we were seperated by 3/4 of a mile of blue sky.
The whole day is spent in a flurry of packing, practicing procedures, watching friends land, laughing at the bullshit stories in the packing area, trying to lay back and relax for just a moment, ranking fellow jumpers to the dogs and back, feeling that nervous adrenaline flow during takeoff until the wheels finally leave the earth, gawking and admiring the beauty of the countryside on the way to altitude, and knowing in a few short minutes you're going to have an even better view, unencumbered by the walls of the aircraft.
Another great day of jumping over, 5 or 6 more jumps logged, and back into the car with friends for the journey home, knowing what the topics of discussion will be and looking forward to it. A quiet break in the conversation, and that's when I ask myself if I really did just jump out of a moderately-good aircraft, and the answer is always a resounding "Hell, YES !"
"AND I CAN'T WAIT 'TIL NEXT WEEKEND !!"
The PLF Pauper

[lazerq3 0]

What blows my mind is thinking back 3 or 4 years ago. I never once imagined or thought I would ever do anything like this. And now to step back and say hey I'm a skydiver!! How in the F%ck did I ever get into this? Wounldnt trade it for the world. ( maybe a beagle,, but it would have to be a trained beagle)
jason
A-38658

[froggie 0]

anne,
i know the feeling... on monday i did my beer tracking dive with Mikey McGrath (camera flyer on the ipoc skysurf team) and he shot vid of it. I only have 21 jumps but looking at the video from that jump and thinking back to not that long ago when i was doing AFF its amazing. I remember the fear "gotta get stable out the door" now my favorite thing to do is geek the my friends who are hanging out the door with their video helmets.
the jump with mikey was amazing. I did a diving exit and he grabbed my hands almost immediately out the door. he releases and on the video im on the hill waving to him, giving thumbs up, smiling like crazy, laughing, waving. Then he purposely caused seperation so that i could practice matching my tracking with his.. its not up close, not until the bottom of the skydive when I track next to him, and at that moment (great editing mikey!), the singer starts singing. The timing is perfect. To see ME adapting my body to freefall with another person. Im tracking but arching a bit to get down to him. we get side by side and the transition to a really desent flat track is schweet. I go neutral at 5,200 feet when i just knew i was near 5 grand. another amazing thing. He told me he didnt want me to check my alti at all, just enjoy the tracking dive, expect the dytter to beep. I didnt, but i still knew i was near 5 grand. To know what alitude im at, thats sweet. So i go neutral, check alti, go back into my track for a couple of seconds. go neutral box again, wave off at 4 grand. nice smooth wave off and then to see myself on video deploying. then mikey deploys and the canopy is opening as the words "Connnnquerinnnng the wormmmmm" are playing. totally sweet skydive, damned good edit too.
At times i cant believe i skydive. I cant believe that in the years to come this is the 'home movies' ill be showing my kids.
I love my life. and it just got better :)
kel

[Skystorm 0]

I used to be normal too, you know? Doing the whole quite housewife gig, never raising my voice towards my man (ex-boyfriend) blah blah blah. In other words, I was dying..
One day I looked up at the sky, and there was this crazy people jumping out a plane and flying towards mother earth at breathtaking speed. (Now remember I'm scared sh&tless of hights and speed... ) And I remember thinking: I need that to be alive again.
Two weeks later I did my first jump course, got in a plane and jumped. YYYYYEEEEEEHHHHHHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say I dumped my boyfriend, who forbid me to jump again, and took up skydiving.
Everytime I rig up I'm nervous as hell, wanting to die, but sitting hotbox, watching take-off I can't wait to get to AL to get out!
CRAZY PEOPLE, ALL OF US!

[chronistin 0]

Quote

Does it ever just amaze you what it is that we do?

it does, but not when jumping and not when i see the others in the plane, but only when I see a video about it. everytime i see somebody exit a plane in a video, my stomach goes up and i feel dizzy for a moment. never happened in reality, only in front of the tv. strange, very strange.
oh and there is that other moment, when i exit the skyvan and lie on my back (i love to to that for a few seconds right after exiting), and there is some crazy guy or girl standing right in the door, grinning as if the world was his/hers.
these are the two moments when i think: this is absolutely crazy.
as a greek friend of mine would say:
crazy good.
love & jump!
Andrea

*************************************
http://www.wortwerkstatt.at/skydiving

[bbbilly14 0]

But, Annie,
We are't expecting one or the other to save us. We KNOW it will. I don't know any skydivers who know different. Those who do shouldn't be skydiving.
Honestly, I am more afraid of the drive down interstate highways than jumping out of the plane. I don't think I am alone on this.
Anyone?

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

Too right. There's some crazy people on the roads now - last weekend we almost hit a car speeding down the road overtaking.

[BenW 0]

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last weekend we almost hit a car speeding down the road overtaking.

Perhaps you shouldn't have been speeding down the road, overtaking then....! What irresponsible behaviour....
B.

[AirMan 0]

And another thing, those stupid "Whuffo" remarks that we all have to deal with...You know the ones:
"Why would anyone jump from a perfectly good airplane?" and
"Me jump?...No, I'm afraid of heights"
ARGgghhhhhhhhh!

[pyke 0]

Quote

"Me jump?...No, I'm afraid of heights"

yeah, I hate this one the most!! BUT...
I feel I have conquered at least one whuffo's 'fear'...
This woman I work with gave me the FULL gambit of 'em..."There is no way!...I am so deathly afraid of heights!...You don't understand, I would have a heart attack in the plane!...blah blah blah" BUT then she gave me an opening...and I worked it.
So, she is committed herself to jumping on the 18th of Aug and now come all the questions..."What happens if: I have a heart attack...what happens if the TM has one...What if the chute doesn't open...(no shit) What if a bird changes it flight path and goes through the canopy!(whatfuckingever)...what if...what if...what if..."
Man, sometimes whuffos can give you the lamest shit when they are nervous about converting. Still think she will be a whuffo afterwards, but man...
This oughta be good!! I'll keep you posted!
Kahurangi e Mahearangi,
Pyke
NZPF A - 2584
USPA C- ?????

[fred 0]

Hell yes it blows my mind.
I'm a newbie (3 jumps so far, should be 5 tomorrow), but from the moment I get into the plane until the moment I land, it doesn't even feel real to me. Like I'm living in a dream. Its not until I leave the DZ that I realize, "I just jumped out of a fucking airplane!" I stopped to fill up my gas tank on the way home last night, and almost screamed that at the person on the opposite pump. Unbelievable.
On the otherhand, I actually am afraid of heights. I went to the stratosphere in Vegas in January and couldn't step away from the interior walls. If I didn't have that parachute on, I'd be panicking. As it is, I know that even if the worst thing happens, I can jump out of that airplane and will likely get to the ground safely. That rig on my back lets me know that I'm relying on my luck, not the pilot/architect to get me down safely.
As for the comment about, "A skydiver lknows that one of the parachutes will bring [him] down safely", I don't buy it. I know that there is the slim chance that both chutes will fail, and I may "bounce"; that this jump might be the scariest anybody has ever faced. But I believe, though I do not know, that it is likely that the main will work, and if it doesn't, there's an even greater chance that the reserve will.
Like most things in life, it's a question of faith rather than a question of knowledge.

[RemiAndKaren 0]

Some times you get jaded.. forget how special it is.. then sometime, some jumps stand out...
I remember one jump in particular last year, just after churning some 50 jumps at Espace.
We were back in glorious Britain and were doing a 4 way at Hinton. I was front foat and on the exit it really felt sureal....peeling off the plane and lookinbg at the others... maybe it was because we overdosed on tailgates, or something else, but it made me grin from ear to ear.. and after the jump, Karen told me she had the same feeling too....

[DZBone 0]

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I went to the stratosphere in Vegas in January and couldn't step away from the interior walls

Did you try the Big Shot? Good way to get your whuffo friends into freefall! Although being in freefall at ~700 feet is kind of scary! haha
I love looking out the glass walls in the lower observation deck. You can just lay on them, and imagine you are floating above the strip.
Of course, I spend the whole time looking for alternate landing areas, as if. What a great BASE jump that would be! Someone must have already tried it!
Carl

[fred 0]

Hell yeah I did the bigshot. Almost tore holes in my palms getting up there, but I managed to get up there.
I know, it's blasphemy, but I think I like the bigshot better than I like skydiving. I'll know for sure once I get back to Vegas.
Looking out the glass at the observation deck? Not going to happen. I tried to grab onto the handrail, but I touched it and back right back up against the wall.
Give me an airplane and a parachute any day over that.
And yes, I really want to hear the story of the guy who base jumped off the strat. All you'd have to do is buy a ticket to the roller coaster and not strap in. And floating down onto the strip would be the most amazing thing ever.

[PhillyKev 0]

Last week on one of my jumps I was jumping solo, just flat flying and at about 7000 feet my brain screamed, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THIS FOR???!!!???" Then I looked around, did a couple turns, felt the adrenaline and realized again why I love it and let out a scream of joy. That was going to be my last jump for the day but I did 2 more:-)
cielos azules y cerveza fría
-Kevin

[Iflyme 0]

Quote

Yes the crazy thing is, no-one is forcing me to do this, or to even consider it!

Well I would never FORCE you to jump outta da plane, but I would certainly encourage you !!!

[Dar 0]

YEAH!!! Cool BASE jump... though I don't know of any BASE jumper that would be willing to do it, since they'd end up in jail (fined for trespassing and endangerment) with a confiscated BASE rig (which the cops are not required to return to you... $2000 down the drain). Besides, the fun of BASE in cities is people NOT knowing that you were there.
Blues!
Dar

[Iflyme 0]

This is a great thread - your stories are very compelling! I, too, get that feeling..."wow - I'm a skydiver - holy shit!!!" I'm getting those tingles just reading what you've all been saying. I don't even try to explain it to the whuffos anymore... but every once in a while, at work, in the car, wherever, it just hits me like a ton of bricks: freefall, canopy spirals, surf landings -- I love it all so much! What we do IS amazing, and you are all amazing people, too!
Blue ones!

[fred 0]

The night after my first jump, I was reading all I could about skydiving, and I came across a page with an aerial view of the ground and it stole my breath... These pictures never had the same effect before i'd actually been there.
When I had my course, I looked at the aerial shot they had there, and started memorizing where landmarks were, and it had no effect. I looked at the same pic yesterday, and instead of looking at in the cold, 'scientifc' way i had the weekend before, it took my breath away.
Oh, to be up there...
Fortunately, I'm jumping tomorrow...