Question for those with lots of jumps: Skydiving becoming routine in your life?

[autoset 0]

I would like to hear from the experienced jumpers here, Is it possible that after 'X' number of jumps skydiving just becomes routine for you and gets less exciting than before?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly asking if skydiving gets boring after a while (does it?), I think there's plenty of disciplines to choose from and get plenty of fun trying them all. What I'm asking is if after jumping out of a plane so much you just get used to it and take it as normal? No more "heart pumping out of your throat like the first jump"?

EXAMPLE:

[1st jump]
-Friend: Wow dude why don't we go try skydiving this weekend?
-John: HOLY SHIT DUDE yeah!!! jumping out of a perfectly good airplane holy crap we gotta be insane!!!

[1500 jumps later...]
-Friend: Hey what do you think if we train some 4-ways tomorrow?
-John: I don't know man, I have to pick up my sister from school and then want to play some Xbox.



For those who have felt like that, Which jump# did you start feeling "complacent" at? (but not too complacent! that will kill you in the end)

[phoenixlpr 0]

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[1st jump]
-Friend: Wow dude why don't we go try skydiving this weekend?
-John: HOLY SHIT DUDE yeah!!! jumping out of a perfectly good airplane holy crap we gotta be insane!!!

[1500 jumps later...]
-Friend: Hey what do you think if we train some 4-ways tomorrow?
-John: I don't know man, I have to pick up my sister from school and then want to play some Xbox.

I think its depending on lots of things.

-frequency: you can be more worried/excited if you are not current.

-time of the year: given the same "shitty" weather in March and in October ( northern hemisphere). People might say its too cold for jumping in October after the skydiving season...

-before or after the nationals: RW teams are training hard before the nationals, they might have less interest after that....

[autoset 0]

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I think its depending on lots of things.

-frequency: you can be more worried/excited if you are not current.

-time of the year: given the same "shitty" weather in March and in October ( northern hemisphere). People might say its too cold for jumping in October after the skydiving season...

-before or after the nationals: RW teams are training hard before the nationals, they might have less interest after that....

Exactly, the question is specially for the jumpers who have easy/free access to the DZ/plane and get free rides,etc. DZOs, instructors, staff, or just jumpers who happen to live 5min away from the DZ and have enough time in their hands to jump whenever they want.

[phoenixlpr 0]

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Exactly, the question is specially for the jumpers who have easy/free access to the DZ/plane and get free rides,etc. DZOs, instructors, staff, or just jumpers who happen to live 5min away from the DZ and have enough time in their hands to jump whenever they want.

Wow! I'd like to be one! Is there a free place like that somewhere?

[autoset 0]

Air force. You will jump there till you say 'noo mooore pleaase!', lol.

[Peej 0]

A lot of the people that come through to jump ask whether i get bored filming tandems all day. And i tell them that honestly i don't. Every tandem video to me represents the opportunity to improve my video and flying skills and share in the sheer joy of someone else's first skydive.

I love coming up with new things to say on the videos, working out new shots and playing with the passengers in the sky. Plus i get the opportunity to swoop the landing after the skydive is done, which for me has really replaced the freefall part of the skydive as the most exciting.

That said i have to admit that i am at a stage now where while i appreciate every jump i get to do and am so thankful for the opportunity to do them, i do enjoy taking a weekend off from the dz every two months or so. I do normal people stuff like have lunch with mates, sleep late and go to movies, etc. And when i come back to the DZ the next weekend i'm stoked to be back and i can't wait to get in the sky.

Sorry if i rambled and didn't make much sense

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[JohanW 0]

Yes, he earth stops shaking and the heaven stops moving a little after X number of jumps.

It's not exactly settling into a 'routine', but it's a valid alternative to getting groceries on a Saturday afternoon.

I'm not as gung-ho now as I used to be to jump in questionable circumstances e.g. I might opt to start the 'my beer drinking club has a poker problem' early, instead of getting in that one last sunset hop&pop.

I might, Heaven forbid, schedule my skydiving into my Life, instead of the other way around.

Which doesn't mean at all it isn't a boatload of fun. But it's something to do well, instead of just do. To answer your last question, I'd say that really started around #900 for me. Long before that, the overexcitement wears off.

Johan.
I am. I think.

[jdthomas 0]

i used to be an every weekend at the dz guy. could not miss it for anything and I found that it cost me so much in the long run.
Yes it has become somewhat of a bore to me in some since of the word, I still enjoy skydiving but now I am enjoying the kayak that I own, the skateboard I have in the trunk of my car, the dogs that I take to the park and most of all my wife who is just the best thing that ever happend to my life.. and bonus that she jumps as well.. but we have a healthy balance of jumping now, and now that I am enjoying weekends away from the dz the more i realize I spent way to much time there in the past.
Tandems started to burn me out, students where fun but i don't miss them and helping pack rigs always sucked!
Have fun jumping, keep a balance of personall life and jumping life if you can.
Joe

www.greenboxphotography.com

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

If you limit yourself to just doing one kind of skydiving over and over and over, then yes, you are going to tire of it and possible quit. Although, I must say, the idea of playing X-box instead of skydiving is incredibly gay. I have taken three breaks over the years. First time I was burned out from too much four-way. Second time I was too sore to jump after too many video jumps with an old Monarch 135 that beat me up every time. Third time was because my ex-wife took all my friends with her in the divorce settlement and I felt out of place on the DZ for a while.

Want to keep a clear head? Mix it up. Try something in the air that you suck at and try to get reasonably proficient at it. Try competition if you haven't already done it. Any discipline. Get some ratings and pay back to the sport. There are just so many different options these days that it's hard to get complacent unless you let yourself get that way. Too many work skydives? Quit doing them and go make some fun jumps. What? it pays your bills? Get a real job and then you can afford all the fun jumps you want.

[Peej 0]

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Although, I must say, the idea of playing X-box instead of skydiving is incredibly gay.

That right there is funny! Yet true...

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[L.O. 0]

Routine isn't the word I would use, but it is close.
after about twenty jumps I lost that "oh my God I'm going to die" feeling.

After about 2000, I was firmly entrenched in my life as a Skydiver.

It has never lost it's thrill. I have always kept it exciting and new.

I started before the Z-P revolution so I did accuracy for a little while. We often use the same canopies for CReW so I became a CReW nut (I am teaching a beginner class this weekend).

4-way has always been my fav and I still do more of it then anything else. I got my I and started J/Ming. At about 500 I started doing Video. The Z-P canopies came along and I was all over that. As the fast canopy has evolved so have I, I've jumped a X-braced for the last 3000.

For many years I was the primary pilot for the DZ (not any more). I am the S&TA for my home DZ now. I need to learn more freeflyn stuff, but my plate is almost always to full.

TODAY AT 2:35 I WILL HAVE COMPLETED 16 YEARS NON-STOP IN THE SPORT.

After 16 years, I still can't get enough. About 10 times a year, I have an experience that bends my perception on reality. Something so good I just can't believe it. I hope that everyone can find something like this, something that burns them from the inside out, with white hot flames of passion.

Skydiving rules.

HPDBs, I hate those guys.
AFB, charter member.

[peek 20]

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I would like to hear from the experienced jumpers here, Is it possible that after 'X' number of jumps skydiving just becomes routine for you and gets less exciting than before?

The routine stuff, maybe, but not with students! They provide something new and interesting nearly every jump. My doing a lot of types of jumping helps too.

I don't recall if and when I became complacent, but I guess I did at some point. Now days I put more thought into some of the things I used to not worry so much about. Perhaps because I have not had any type of problem in a long time and that alone makes me more cautious.

I've always been a "Know Your Gear" kind of guy, and I imagine that helps a lot.

[Maxx 1]

There is so much more exciting stuff than skydiving, that it never becomes "routine" to me. It has always been a special hobby and it will always be. No matter if you do a solo or a 12way headdown jump, you can always learn something and improve your skills. It may get boring, if you have no goals in the sport and no people to jump with.. But that is with every other sport the same.. It always depends on your attitude and your ambition to make things happen.

I think every skydiver has to set his priorities, for some its living for the sport and dedicate every minute to it, for others there are other things more important in life (like having a a good job first and then having the money for skydiving ;) )

You sure get used to it and, but if you lose your sensation for skydiving you should better quit, IMHO.

[steveorino 7]

I think Chuck says it best. If it begins to get routine, expand your horizons. After about 800 video jumps I was getting bored. I seriously thought about getting a wingsuit but the rep didn't have one that would fit me at the time. So, I did what I said I would never do. I earned my tandem rating. Now I love doing tandems. When that gets boring, I'll try wingsuit or do more CRW.

There is no reason for skydiving to be boring, because there are so many disciplines.

steveOrino

[Fast 0]

I need something to keep me happy. Here and there I can just go up and "jump" but for the most part I need something to challenge me or my mind. It can seem like the simplest thing, but as long as I have the next hurdle to jump over I keep going strong. Have been held back by physical/medical problems lately and that makes me want to jump even more.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[billvon 2,380]

>after 'X' number of jumps skydiving just becomes routine for you
>and gets less exciting than before?

Well, I've reached the point where each jump just for the sake of the jump isn't all that exciting. Jumping is something that lets me do other cool things - like wingsuit flight, or 8-way, or trying a new main, or working with students. But I've reached the point in my career where I can get very cheap/free jumps at at least one DZ - and often I'd rather stay home than just do solos. (OTOH, when I go out with a bunch of people to do 4-way or something it's great!)

>No more "heart pumping out of your throat like the first jump"?

Nope. It's what I _do_ during the jump that gets my heart going. The jump itself is just a way to get into freefall (and sometimes under canopy.)

[stayhigh 2]

it does become routine,,, after x amount of jumps you'll relize that it is just another way of spending money to have 'FUN'..

since i can only come out to play only one day a week, and i can't think of better way to spend Sunday than skydiving, so that is why im still jumping. if i find something better than skydiving im always ready to move on.. but i still haven't found better shit than to jump so...

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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I would like to hear from the experienced jumpers here, Is it possible that after 'X' number of jumps skydiving just becomes routine for you and gets less exciting than before?

When you have enough jumps and are current skydiving itself is not that exciting. For most people it becomes more of a social sport where the rewards come from jumping with other people and building formations (under canopy, in wingsuits, tracking, atmonauti, or the standard four body positions - there's huge room for variation here). I usually won't waste the time and money on a ride to full altitude without people to jump with.

Flying small parachutes is fun too.

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[1500 jumps later...]
-Friend: Hey what do you think if we train some 4-ways tomorrow?
-John: I don't know man, I have to pick up my sister from school and then want to play some Xbox.

While I wouldn't skip skydiving to play xbox, I have skipped nice days to hang out with my wife or build things in my workshop.

[beowulf 1]

I have to have goals in skydiving. For me Freeflying is where it is at. It is so diffucult to be good at. I want to be on at least one successful world record freefly formation and to compete in VRW 4 way. Those will keep me interested in skydiving for a long time. When that gets old I can always compete in regular 4 way or CRW or try belly big ways ..... etc. Just jumping out of a plane can be really boring if you don't have anything to do. I won't hardly jump by myself anymore.

[Tonto 1]

I'll tell you when I have a lot of jumps.

Right now I'm excited about the 11 dives I have planned for the weekend - and am hoping to get one or two extra in before the Spanish F1 GP starts around lunch on Sunday.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[AFFI 0]

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I'll tell you when I have a lot of jumps.

Right now I'm excited about the 11 dives I have planned for the weekend - and am hoping to get one or two extra in before the Spanish F1 GP starts around lunch on Sunday.

t

Perfectly said!

-

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[autoset 0]

Very good replies thanks everyone. At the end of the day it always comes down to having fun, and when you get tired of one thing the only solution is to mix things up a bit. That's why there are so many disciplines to choose from.

One of the things that made me ask this question is because the other day I was watching some BASE videos and there was this really fun one (most of the recordings were from handycams) where these guys were jumping from a cliff making all kind of funny faces to the cam and there even was one guy jumping with sunglasses and smoking a cigar from exit to right before deployment, they looked as relaxed as when you are going shopping to Walmart, "jumping from a cliff smoking a cigar?*Yawn*...everyday stuff".

Lol funny stuff, got to find the link for you all to see.

EDIT: couldn't find the video on skydivingmovies but found it on youtube, hilarious stuff!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=17PyzpgRMl4