Does it get better?

[bazzfreefly 0]

Hi all. I'm halfway through my A licence and I'm finding that my jumps are starting to get....well, boring?? Don't get me wrong it's still fun but I just don't get a real rush out of it now. After my first couple of jumps it took a good 5 minutes to start to calm down. Now I land and think " yeah that was cool." Is that normal? Others getting their A licence are still buzzing for a few minutes after their jumps. My question is, is it a whole new ball game after you get your A licence? Does that "YEAH" buzz come back? Or am I in the wrong sport? The main reason I'm still doing it is, so I can fly a wingsuit. Is that enough to stay in the sport? Please any advice would be great.

[skysmurf2 0]

Hi,

I am in exactly the same place as you. The jumps are no longer thrilling - instead I find it quite relaxing. However, am not willing to pay quite so much merely to relax. The thing is though, if like me, you're doing solos and aren't really pushing yourself then its bound to have lost the adrenalin factor.
However, as soon as I get back from holiday I will be trying loads of new stuff and beginning my FS coaching. Thats when I assume the thrills will come (again) when I try something new. And, thankfully still being beginners there are tons of new things we will be able to try as we progress.

p.s. where do u jump, as in the UK (i think) you need at least 500 jumps to wingsuit. thats a lot of jumps before you get where you want to go.

(edited: to clarify: I meant I am in the same place mentally - but yeah in the lead up to and after my A license the jumping itself didn't make me buzz. BUT when you get yours the first completely solo jump is a bit of a rush. plus getting your license ROCKS!!!)
:-)

[Joellercoaster 6]

I'm in the same boat. A bit.

I dunno about the rush - that part went away for me halfway through AFF and hasn't come back. But I have to say I don't mind - jumping with other people brings a fun factor that far outweighs the missing adrenaline.

Your mileage may, of course, vary. But stick it out - between AFF and qualification the solos are were a bit ho-hum, but then the big light came back on again

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[jakee 1,259]

Yes it will get better. I don't know about other people but for me it has never been so much about the buzz of 'wow I jumped out of a plane' it's more about the challenge of skydiving well and the reward you get from doing a really good jump. Once you start doing RW coaching and stuff the buzz comes from progressing and getting better, like knocking out a really smoking 2-way, or a smooth 3-way with no level issues or seperation between points, that kind of thing.

And that is just a tiny piece of what you can start doing with other people in the sky once you get your A. What I would say is stop chasing the thrill ride and just start having fun.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Peej 0]

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Yes it will get better. I don't know about other people but for me it has never been so much about the buzz of 'wow I jumped out of a plane' it's more about the challenge of skydiving well and the reward you get from doing a really good jump. Once you start doing RW coaching and stuff the buzz comes from progressing and getting better, like knocking out a really smoking 2-way, or a smooth 3-way with no level issues or seperation between points, that kind of thing.

And that is just a tiny piece of what you can start doing with other people in the sky once you get your A. What I would say is stop chasing the thrill ride and just start having fun.

That's a great answer!

I always tell whuffos that after my first jump i got down and was like "Wow, i cheated death, i survived! Blah Blah!" Now it's more like we have a 3D playground that has no walls, no floor, no boundaries at all and the juice comes from pulling off precision skydives in that environment. Then of course ws flight takes things to a whole other level!

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[meltdown 0]

I notice you have "freefly" in your screen name. Wait until the first time you have someone swoop in head down and dock on you while you're in a sit. You'll feel the rush!

[kallend 1,648]

If you're bored already, maybe you should take up shark-taming or extreme solo ice climbing. Skydiving is clearly too tame for you.

...

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

[WatchYourStep 0]

I think what jakee and Peej said are great pieces of advice.

I can't explain it, but in the air I feel very content with everything around me. The feeling is almost surreal. For 45 seconds I don't think about anything at all except those 45 seconds in freefall and the canopy ride that ensues. The feelings that jump produces lasts much longer than 45 seconds.

When I get down on the ground the people from the load are always yelling, laughing, giving high fives so it makes it easy to stay stoked, but then again I think I would be pumped even if it was only me and a pilot but I enjoy the company on the way down.

Why do you jump? Is it solely to fly a wingsuit? If your desire to fly a wingsuit matches the drive you need to accomplish your goal then yes staying in it to fly a wingsuit is worth it.

Remember what jakee said

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just start having fun.

I hope you find what you're looking for in skydiving.

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[AlexCrowley 0]

I skydive because it is the most calming thing I've ever done. The rush came with the first couple of jumps was not what hooked me to the sport, it's the absolute clarity of mind that I achieve.

TV's got them images, TV's got them all, nothing's shocking.

[BillyVance 34]

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That's a great answer!

I always tell whuffos that after my first jump i got down and was like "Wow, i cheated death, i survived! Blah Blah!" Now it's more like we have a 3D playground that has no walls, no floor,

I hate to disagree with this, but there is one floor...

the ground...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Joellercoaster 6]

What he said.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[freeryde13 0]

once you get the a license you'll be allright. instead of doing each dive to check of something on the card you do what you want.

_________________________________________

people see me as a challenge to their balance

[immanence 0]

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I skydive because it is the most calming thing I've ever done. The rush came with the first couple of jumps was not what hooked me to the sport, it's the absolute clarity of mind that I achieve

Perfectly said. I never got into the sport to get pumped up. That's almost the definition of what I try to surmount. When I see other skydivers high-fiving and strutting around the DZ I yawn. To me it is the oceanic calmness that I feel during and after the skydive. It's deeper than relaxation. If I could just nail the floating bit I'd be all set

"where danger is appears also that which saves ..." Friedrich Holderlin, 'Patmos'

[BETO74 0]

Numbers shows that people quit skydiving before they get to 500 jumps and is because they get bored and it's not exciting anymore for them.
I been there and I think most of the people I know it's been there. I believe that you should set your goals and try to reach them, if it's wing suit them go ahead work on deploying stable, the deploying sequence using a wing suit is different and probably the most critical moment of your skydive, is never to early to practice those drills, if is freefly the discipline you're seeking, try to get some exercises or drills you can do while flying solo, with your jump number I believe you're probably want to fly with people doing two ways etc and sometimes difficult because experience or more experience people than you don't like to jump with people with less experience cuz is not a challenge for them anymore, I think is normal to be in your situation. There is a whole universe of skills and knowledge to be discovered in front of you starting with the very basic skills of deploying stable, landings, flat tracking, moving forward backwards side ways on your belly then F.F there lies the excitement of skydiving you establish your own learning curve it's not about other people it's about you, people won't be around to help you on your first cut away or emergency.

You remind me of a friend that just started skydiving and with 20 some jumps she told me she was getting bore about just exiting the plane and doing solos all the time just working toward a license requirement that she did not even knew if she was going to use we did a bunch of jumps in the couple of weeks follow to that comments I even remembered how to belly fly in that time, we had so much fun she was learning how to move forward, backwards side ways fly her back etc I had fun just watching her smile through the skydive, after that she told me she was interested again about the sport, interested about learning as fast as she could, solo jumps are a challenge for her because she knows now how much she needs to learn.

Don’t rush things just because you’re trying to make it more exciting that’s when accidents occur.

Hope it helps

http://web.mac.com/ac057a/iWeb/AC057A/H0M3.html

[somethinelse 0]

Wow
you were buzzing for a few minutes?
I was like buzzing for hours!
IT STILL TAKES ME SEVERAL MINUTES TO CHILL OUT AFTER A JUMP! It's the adreniline...

I think the more familar you get with the sensations of freefall, the quicker the buzz wears off. But it is still VERY fun!

But it IS good too...you can be clearer headed about what you are doing AND in hind site you can go back over what you've done to ananlyze it better.

RIGHT?

AFter the A you can work on learning MORE new things and have that rush of new things again.

COOL, HUH?

Blues - LuLu.

[OzoneJunkie 0]

I remember a solo jump after AFF, maybe jump 12 or something. Thought "wow, this is pretty boring, actually". I hadn't been exposed to freeflying yet. Saw a video, start working on it, and never felt bored again.

[catfishhunter 1]

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Does that "YEAH" buzz come back? Or am I in the wrong sport?

That Scares me.

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The main reason I'm still doing it is, so I can fly a wingsuit.

Half way through your A and your only jumping so you can jump a wingsuit?

I would suggest bowling

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[i.c 0]

Glad I've seen this thread...I haven't jumped for about 2 years now, having stopped when I was on 29 jumps, and was trying to decide if it was really worth getting back into because I also felt a little "it's cool....but is it worth it...".

I still want to give it another go, so at least there's a chance I might get the wow factor back again!

[dragon2 0]

Everything new still gives me a rush. First jump, first freefall, first jump on own gear, first crw jump, first time sitfly actually worked, first downplane, first dragplane, first wingsuit jump, first jump on a skyflyer3 wingsuit, first camera jump, first wingsuit rodeo jump, trying out a new canopy, first demo jump, first reserve ride, etc. The biggest buzz now however I get from seeing someone else have fun, ie filming a wingsuit student, seeing the smiles on other birdmen when a formation comes together, doing 3way crw with vengeances just for laughs, or my teammates in a fun 3way or something.

I started jumping to do 3 things: birdman, crw and camera work. I got to do all 3 in time, and still love doing 'em! Yeah the buzz will come back, if you do something you love. Can't start right off the bat with birdman, but you can go on tracking dives for instance. Or maybe you'll love doing 4way, or whatever. It will never be the same as that first jump, but boring, nah!

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Elisha 1]

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Glad I've seen this thread...I haven't jumped for about 2 years now, having stopped when I was on 29 jumps, and was trying to decide if it was really worth getting back into because I also felt a little "it's cool....but is it worth it...".

I still want to give it another go, so at least there's a chance I might get the wow factor back again!

Do it, man! Do it! I took off about 9 months from Jump #35, but that was mainly due to job/$$ issues. Now that I have my own rig and jumping is cheaper, my jumping desire has come back with a vengeance!

I agree that I don't have that, "Wow! I jumped out of a plane! " excitement anymore, but it comes from executing things well, like a 3 or 4-way.

[Amanduh 0]

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I'm halfway through my A licence and I'm finding that my jumps are starting to get....well, boring??

Skydiving isn't for everyone.

[chutem 0]

Hey Bazz,
What kind of training program did you do, static line or AFF? Freefall with other people will open up a whole new world if you have not done it yet. Flying relative to other people is very challenging in the begining. If it's the death defying rush your looking for there are certainly less expensive ways to put your nuts on the line.
James

[brianfry713 0]

Sometimes after a great jump I still feel that rush and it's a lot of fun. After a not so great jump, I think about what I can do better the next time, pack up and do it again. I agree with the posts about it being more relaxing than thrilling sometimes. If I go a weekend without skydiving (that hasn't happened in 6 months), I miss it and really want to get back up in the air soon. The A license takes a long time to get, but it's worth it if you enjoy the sport and it opens up a lot of new things to try.

Right now I'm mainly trying and working on new things on almost every jump, and that keeps it exiting. Here in the US, you can fly a wingsuit after 200 jumps within 18 months and working with an instructor on the first jump. I did it the weekend after I hit 200, and it's a blast. I'm also going to do my first BASE jump in a month and can't wait.

Jumping by yourself can get boring, but once you have an A license you can jump with other people for fun and that's a whole new ball game once you lose that student status. Of course, take it slow and try to work on only one new thing at a time. It will never feel quite the same as the first jump, but it gets better in other ways, like the statisfaction of improving your flying ability and having a great jump where everything worked out how you planned it.

BASE 1224, Senior Parachute Rigger, CPL ASEL IA, AGI, IGI
USPA Coach & UPT Tandem Instructor, PRO, Altimaster Field Support Representative

[BigSky 2]

I just went through getting my A card and am now about ready to get my B and I cant say I thought any of it was boring. However the pure adrenaline rush does go away. For me I have always been fascinated with flight. from the time I leave the door until Im on the ground is absolute freedom for me. For me learning how to fly my body around is well...............the coolest f-ing thing I have ever done! Then after that their is the canopy flight. flying a little inflated wing to the ground from 3000ft is something I would pay to do any day. I also get a kick out of being at the airport and lets not forget the people, which are from what Ive seen, one of the coolest parts of this whole thing. If I was just in it for adrenaline I dont think I would make it very long

“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, th

[President 0]

Skydiving isn't for everyone I guess. In my opinion, it's mostly teasing you with that "touch the skies" feeling but never allows you to truely have it. Everyone likes to use words "fly", "wings" etc but in reality it is only several minutes of airtime, period.

My suggestion for you - try paragliding. It is basically the same canopy, only bigger and with way better aerodynamics. And you don't need an airplane, you don't need to pay anyone for lift, you don't even need to drive to any airport - your county park will do. And you can launch off of a cliff or a hillside and soar for hours in thermic lift. That's a real FLIGHT. And each time you launch, the airtime you get out of every flight only depends on how good you are at finding and using lift.

I think skydiving is fun, but only for one reason - step out the door. This feelng is priceless. Everything else is a bore and too expensive if you count per minute of airtime.

Please don't kick me in the butt - these are only my 2 cents after all.