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kcb203

Did you become the kind of skydiver you thought you'd become when you started?

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I'm not a huge risk taker, and I don't see myself becoming a swooper, downsizing to a small canopy, base jumping, doing CReW formations, or basically doing anything that's not as safe as I can reasonably make it. Did any of you start with a similar progression in mind, then abandon it along the way as the beginner apprehension faded away? Did your perceptive of risk change as your abilities changed?


I started with a similar outlook (although I was about 25 when I started) and didn't expect to one day set three world records, or become an instructor, or to end up doing work for Hollywood. (Or BASE jumping, or wingsuiting, or camera . . . .) I started for the same reason I started flying - I wanted to see what this new sport was all about, and I wanted to do the things that I thought were cool at the time (like 20 ways.) One turning point for me was getting my AFF rating - instead of spending $200 a weekend I'd leave with $300 after the weekend. And for a relatively poor new arrival in Socal that was pretty important, and led to a lot of jumps in a short time.

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When I started, I wanted to become a badass RW competitor. I did hours of tunnel, hundreds of jumps mainly focused on 4-Way. Even tried to start a team, which didn't last long. I thought RW was the "safest" of all competitive disciplines, I didn't want anything to do with swooping or wingsuiting.

Then I touched my front-risers and turned to the dark side. Now I have several hundreds of hop and pops, haven't been in freefall in more than a year and I have been using all my money and time to travel to canopy piloting competitions and swoop camps.

So no, I did not become the kind of skydiver I thought I would etc etc etc.
I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

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I'm just starting, but I can already see how this goes.

First, I just wanted to do a tandem so i could say I did.
Then, I wanted to do one solo so I could say I did.
Then, I wanted to finish AFF, so I could say I did.
Now, I want my A license so I can jump wherever I feel like it.
But... I've already looked up reqs for the B license.

Goals I want to accomplish by this time next year-

1. B license.
2. Night jump.
3. Canopy course.
4. Jump in at least 10 different DZs.
5. Master tunnel backfly and belly/back transitions.

It's a lot! The cumulative risk of all the jumps required to get there is non-trivial for a statistically minded individual like me. But it's fun and exhilarating like nothing else I've ever done in my life before, so we're doing it. The crazy part is that I'm deluded/egotistical enough to think I can make the risk virtually negligible through care, foresight, caution and study.

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I did a charity static line jump aged 25, thinking it would be a one-off. I had a fear of heights, so wasn't even sure why I'd signed-up to do a jump in the first place (a combination of alcohol and peer pressure was to blame!).
Four years later I'd done about 600 jumps and was doing camera work, CRW, coaching and was training to be an instructor. I then had a CRW accident that nearly killed me, so had two and a half years when I didn't jump. During that time I realised that camera work, coaching and instructing were pulling me away from the things I wanted to for my own enjoyment, and that CRW probably wasn't for me, so when I started jumping again I focussed on RW.
I didn't do as many jumps per year as in those first few years, but instead went to boogies and big-way events that eventually led to me being on four world records.
Eight years ago (about 25 years after my first jump) I somehow managed to get out of the habit of going to the DZ and my jumping fizzled-out. It wasn't a conscious decision to quit, but after a while I realised that I should sell my kit and move-on.

Certainly not a planned 'career' as a skydiver, and once it had begun it didn't go the way I would have imagined, but great times non the less.

At this stage in your jumping career it's far to early to tell how things will pan-out for you, but the secret is to enjoy what you're doing at the time and accept the opportunities when they present themselves.

Pete.

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At first I would have said no, but after reading the rest of these peoples stuff I'd say yes. I started, to have fun and had a hell of a lot of it.
U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

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When I was going through AFF I thought I'd come twice a month to the dropzone and do 4 jumps on each day, ceiling my spendings on around $200 a month, no tunnel time planned, bought my first rig thinking that it could be the last.

I finished AFF, did a handful of jumps, and took 6 months off on ski season. Then in May next year I came back, still had a similar idea on my head.

As soon as I got my A license I went to the tunnel for the first time, thought about flying a couple hours to get a head start on the freeflying that I believed I could learn "organically" on the sky.

Shortly, skydiving pretty much consumed my life, tunnel during the week, skydiving both days of every weekend + a couple boogies a year... logged around 500 jumps in 12 months and kept going strong after that. Now a days I have an AFF-I rating that I don't use much and mostly focus on freeflying and swooping.

No regrets, has been really fun, met a lot of cool people and I think it's a good use of my time. I also feel I can balance thinks better now a days, I think a lot about how I wanna keep doing this for the rest of my life without burning out of it.

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grimmie

I started out saying I would never do CRW, BASE jump, downsize, run an event or ever never be a DZO.

That all didn't last too long.



+1

Started out on a Startrac 265, in the early 90s swooping killed people so that was not for me, I now jump a Zaos 27 98. Never wanted to get into the business because of the burnout I witnessed, I now run a small DZ and do it all. I had a tough time for a while when I looked around and all of my heroes were either dead or retired, it then dawned on me that it was my turn to take up the mantle. Having done that I am much happier. That said, I could never imagined myself being in this place twenty five years ago.

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brenthutch

***I started out saying I would never do CRW, BASE jump, downsize, run an event or ever never be a DZO.

That all didn't last too long.



+1

Started out on a Startrac 265, in the early 90s swooping killed people so that was not for me, I now jump a Zaos 27 98. Never wanted to get into the business because of the burnout I witnessed, I now run a small DZ and do it all. I had a tough time for a while when I looked around and all of my heroes were either dead or retired, it then dawned on me that it was my turn to take up the mantle. Having done that I am much happier. That said, I could never have imagined myself being in this place twenty five years ago.

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I made about 150 jumps in 10 years from 2005 (age 18) to 2015 (age 28). I know there are a lot of big spenders that make hundreds or thousands of jumps a year, but you don't have to compare yourself to those people. I've had to take a little break from jumping, but I'll be back in the air soon.

One thing I wish I had done along the way was pay for video. I only have 4 or 5 videos of my jumps, even though I know video was taken on more like 40 to 50 of those jumps. But the 1,000+ jump wonders don't necessarily care about sharing the video they shoot. So yeah, pay people to shoot video on some of your jumps. I've been on so many cool jumps, and really wish I had more of that video.

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Yes, and no. I wanted to do it all and be good at everything. I was the same overly enthusiastic type that I sometimes find exhausting these days till their energy comes back down to more realistic levels. :D

I have done a lot, and am pretty damn good at some things. The best part is theres still more to get good at, as well as going back and bringing old skills up to new levels....

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

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as a student with only 6 jumps to my name. I started bc I did a tandem last year. Once I landed. I was so calm an clear minded I actually went home an self taught swing/option trading to myself over winter months. it gives me motivation to do more with myself then I feel Im capable of doing. Jumping from a plane proves you got balls. or guts. so nothing else in life should scare you. I feel I can take on the world after jumping. Thats why I jump

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Christopherg

as a student with only 6 jumps to my name. I started bc I did a tandem last year. Once I landed. I was so calm an clear minded I actually went home an self taught swing/option trading to myself over winter months. it gives me motivation to do more with myself then I feel Im capable of doing. Jumping from a plane proves you got balls. or guts. so nothing else in life should scare you. I feel I can take on the world after jumping. Thats why I jump



I feel ya, man. Skydiving has a way of putting everything else in life into place.

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wmw999

Well, I hoped I'd be awesome, and that hasn't happened :P

That said, I just wanted to be a skydiver. There weren't as many types when I started, but there were still options. I had no idea past jumping out of an airplane.

Almost exactly my thoughts. As a 17 yo kid, I had no idea what the world of skydiving was all about.
All I really thought about was my next jump and how to not screw it up. I was lucky to have some great mentors and friends that helped me along the way. Now, with my instructional ratings, I try to pay it back.

I never knew, when I started, that skydiving would take me all over the world, find me such a beautiful wife, and give me so many amazing, exciting friends. I've seen sights and had experiences that ground-bound people can barely imagine. I'd hate to have missed it all.

The sport has expanded and morphed far beyond what, I think, any of us could have imagined. Although I spend most of my time on my belly, I do enjoy freeflying in small groups and the occasional WS flight. I hope I can continue for many more years. :)

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I did my first (tandem) jump at age 52 in support of a student organization. I only expected to do the one. I did three that day and signed up for training because I really wanted to do it myself without being strapped to some guy.

Once I'd soloed I decided to get the license, just as a challenge, then I planned to quit.

Then I watched the 1998 246-way from the ground and decided that was really cool, so I'd like to jump with others.

In 1999 saw two guys flying wingsuits at Quincy. Thought that was cool too.

Then a guy called Roger Nelson suggested I compete at nationals, so I did. Won a bronze in 10-way speed in 2002.

Then I started getting invitations to big ways.

Tried a borrowed wingsuit in 2003. Got hooked. Bought my own.

Now I am a FAI world record holder in wingsuit large formation, and a POPS, SOS and JOS world record holder in big-ways. None of which were part of my original reason to make a jump.
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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I was born in the 60s so as a boy I dreamed about being either an astronaut or one of these guys who climb onto the outside and ride aircraft like you see in the SkiesCall books. Started jumping at 18 years old and never looked back.... until I got married. Gave up parachuting but kept my kit for the day I would start again. 23 years and two grown-up children later I started jumping again this March:)
My daughter did her first Tandem the other weekend and I followed her out - she loved it and so did I.

So did I become the skydiver I dreamt about as a kid? I sure did, I love the free-fall and relative work but my favourite bit is rear floating - climbing out of the door and clinging onto the fuselage like my boyhood heroes of 40 years ago. :)

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