First solo jump!

[angrypeppers 1]

Ever since I finished AFF two Sunday's ago, I've been excited about, and kinda terrified by, the thought of my first solo jump. It's a scary thought for a newb with all of nine jumps. No instructor to give tips and advice about the jump; to make you relaxed by telling jokes. Of course, there would be no radio either. At the same time, I couldn't wait to go by myself. Test out what I learned over the last two months. See if I really did have the cojones to leave the airplane on my own.

I arrived at the DZ a little before noon...later than I wanted, as usual. I took a quick look around, and aside from the instructors, I saw only a few people I know from up there. Chris and Josh were there; they were both on the same load from when I did my Level 7. But that was about it. My jump buddy couldn't go on Saturday, so she wasn't there either. I decided to hang out a little, calm my nerves, and watch a load or two before I signed up for my jump. Two hours later, it was now or never time for me.

I was added to the manifest for Otter 8, first name on the list. I grabbed a rig I've used before, a 260, and started to get ready. We were on about a 40 minute call, so there was no real rush, but my stomach was starting to get to me. I gathered up my gear, and tried to calm my nerves. I checked the rig, all looked good. Before long, it was time to suit up. It was strange not seeing a radio on the chest strap! At the ten minute call, I headed over to the trailer. There were already a couple of guys there, so I just sat down and chatted a bit. Then the call came that our load would be on a 30 minute hold. Crap! Eventually, our load was called, and we headed out to the airplane.

At the loading area, I asked for a gear check, got it, then we sorted out the load. When asked, I replied "Solo, belly", then the nerves hit hard! Solo! Holy shit, this is cool! And scary! And to think that I did my tandem just about three months ago, and now I'm going to jump on my own! We boarded the plane, and were soon airborne. There was one H&P on this load. Soon enough, the H&P was out the door, and we headed up. I found myself checking my alti about every seven seconds, and my chest/leg straps about once a minute. I put on my helmet, took it off, put on my googles too early, took them off...guess I was a little nervous still. Finally, the light came on, the door opened, and it was time to go!

When it was my turn, I did my spot, it looked good, and dove out. My exit was OK except I got on my back. Flipping over was easy, and I got stable. Cool, still above 10k. Freefall was odd since I didn't have anything I *had* to do on this jump. My plan was to exit, fall straight down, wave off at 6000 and pull at 5500, just like in AFF. I did fall straight down for a while, at least I thought it was a while, checked my heading and altitude, damn, I was at 9000'! One of my friends told me that freefall would seem like it lasted forever, and he was right! Since I had plenty of altitude, I spun around to look at Longs Peak. Beautiful! I checked my altitude, and was still way above 7000, so I did a 360, using Longs Peak as a reference. Cool! Wave off time was coming up, so I just held my position from there. When it was almost pull time, I noticed I was in a slight turn. I stopped the turn, then waved and pulled at 6000. Actually, I just pulled...forgot to wave off. Stupid!

The chute opened up just fine, though it seemed to take a little longer than normal. That was probably just my brain playing with me. I popped the brakes, did my controllability check, and headed back to the landing area. This was my fourth jump on the 260, so I just played around a bit: turns, 360's, practice flares. That was fun, but soon it was time to start setting up for the pattern. The pattern was fine, though I did get a little farther away at one point than I wanted to be, so I tightened it up. My target was a spot about 25 meters southwest of the peas, and damn if I didn't land right about there. Of course, I stumbled on landing as is normal for me, but I was down, unhurt, and the canopy was undamaged. I did it! With shaking hands, I gathered up the canopy and headed over to the trailer.

We arrived back to the hangar, and I dropped off the rig. I put my gear away, and called my wife to let her know I was down and safe. Then sat down in a chair to decompress a bit. At that point, I felt like I could conquer anything, if I could just calm down for a few minutes first.

I couldn't hang around after the jump, since I waited so long to get on a load. So I packed up and headed out to the truck for the drive home. I wasn't really paying attention to too much on the drive home. For some reason, I kept looking back towards Longs Peak. I'm so glad that I didn't psych myself out. It was close, but I finally realized that I would be supremely pissed at myself if I drove off and didn't jump. This jump was the reward for all the work I put in during AFF. So, now I happily owe yet another case of beer! No problem, and I'll plan on sticking around longer next weekend.

Burn the land and boil the sea,
You can't take the sky from me.

[jheadley 0]

Very nice story, congratulations

[cjsgrlsx3 0]

I Loved this! Great job writing it. I can't wait until I get to say the same! Have fun!

[chaosreins 0]

i really enjoyed reading the story of your first solo jump! i've got one last level to pass before my first solo and it was good to see that it's normal to be nervous. your detailed description will undoubtedly be very helpful when it's my turn.

[tomvailco 0]

Right on! I'm getting pumped already for mine on sunday. I bet that first solo is crazy!!

[jarrodh 0]

Ive noticed that everytime you hit a milestone in your jumping career you write an epic story of your experience on the forums...keep it up. These stories are fun to read and remind me of myself just 2 months or so ago when I was first off AFF. My first solo went almost exactly like yours, and it was awesome. On your next solo try a fun front flip exit or repeated backloops/barrel rolls to spice things up. Believe me the fun is just begining

2 BITS....4 BITS....6 BITS....A DOLLAR!....ALL FOR THE GATORS....STAND UP AND HOLLER!!!!

[jheadley 0]

Writing a lot about how you felt and what you were thinking as a student is also a good idea because it'll allow you to remember vividly what it was like to be a student, if you eventually become an instructor. That'll help you to relate to them more, and teach them better. A lot of people seem to have forgotten what it was like to be a student.

[llkenziell 0]

Thats good that you can remember your jump so well. Congrats on doing it - I know what you mean about wanting not to do it but knowing you'll beat yourself up about not jumping later =)

Blue Skies

"Living like fallen angels who lost their halos" - Unknown Prophets

-Love Life-

[jdlm2004 0]

Congratulations of your 1st solo!! I hope to be there soon myself......

[angrypeppers 1]

Yeah, I suppose I go overboard sometimes, but I honestly don't care to change. During my AFF, I would search out others stories just to see what they had to do, how they felt before/during/after, etc. so I could compare their jump with mine. There's so much good info here, I found that it helped me a lot. Hopefully my "epic stories" might help out someone else.

I hope I never forget the fear, nervousness, excitement, and fun I had on this jump! Now the real fun begins...

Thanks all!
Chris

Burn the land and boil the sea,
You can't take the sky from me.

[Royd 0]

Quote

I hope I never forget the fear, nervousness, excitement, and fun I had on this jump! Now the real fun begins...

Just wait until your brain really begins to sort out and understand the details of every part of the jump.

Right now I'm getting into rw. If you want to play with the big boys you eventually have to start breaking off at about 4,000'. By the time you track away you will be throwing out around 3,000', which means that you will be fully open about 2,200'.

I know. You old timers are probably snickering right about now.

Ground rush is truly a rush.