TERRIFYING freefall! BREATHTAKING parachute ride, ROUGH landing!

[skydivermom 0]

Completed ground school this past Saturday at SSM. It was storming pretty good when I arrived that morning so I didn't think I would be doing a jump that day. After ground school was over the sky was clear enough for us to jump so myself and another student just practiced together and looked over the class materials. By the time it was my turn to jump I had been there for twelve hours and was nothing short of exhausted. Should have never gotten on that plane!

We(myself, Douva and Mike) exited and the last thing I remember is looking up at the wing and then it was total chaos. The arch that I was attempting to do just didn't exist. I was on my back and just couldn't get stable. The next thing I knew I was watching my pilot chute deploy as one of my instructors pulled for me. Oh, and I lost a shoe during freefall so I'm thinking "great, I am going to do my first landing with one shoe!" Then I reached up and grabbed the toggles and realized I was up there all alone, looked at the altimeter (7,000), checked my canopy for controllability and enjoyed the gorgous sunset! My instructors then told me which way to turn and such, and before I knew it I was actually landing at the dz instead of someone's backyard! Didn't flare hard enough and so landing was a little rough, but I stood up (eventually) and was able to walk.

While I was talking with my instructors about the jump, everything started spinning and I lost feeling in my hands and feet. So my instructor carries me to some couch and they eventually call the paramedics. So I left the dz in an ambulance and spent the next few hours in the ER. Everyone at SM was absolutely wonderful! I never felt alone or unsafe. They really took great care of me.

The Doc determined my innter ear was messed up from the pressure changes and the crazy freefall. I had also just gotten over a mild case of pneumonia. That is why everything started spinning and I couldn't feel my extremities. It was pretty scary. Thought I was having a stroke.

After much thought and getting some wonderful advice from Ilya, I have decided to wait until I'm completely better, take a refresher course and try the jump again. If the same thing happens, forget solo skydiving. I'll just stick with tandems!

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[mnealtx 0]

Sounds like a good plan - glad you're ok!

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[droquette 0]

sound like a good time!!!!! Where Can I sign up??

but seriously..... when is your next jump going to be?


blue skies and i hope you pull next time...

dan

HISPA 72 ----- "Muff Brother" 3733

[darrenspooner 0]

I take on board the inner ear thing, but perhaps its worth investigating panic, dissociation and hysterical conversion. In simple terms, were your symptoms caused by physiological over-arousal. PM me if you want more info on this

[skydivermom 0]

I'm not sure if I'm jumping again. Right now I'm scared to death of freefall. I will probably do the refresher course and try the jump again on the 6th of August or the 13th. Thanks for the encouragement and I'll keep you posted.

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[hexadecimal 0]

Good thing it didn't happen in freefall or under canopy...

Glad to hear you're ok.

[PrairieDoug 0]

Kathleen,

Assuming your medical issues aren't an ongoing issue, you shouldn't necessarily let one less-than-perfect jump keep you grounded for life. A lot of very competent skydivers got off to a humbling start. (Half of that statement applies to me.)

Take some time to get a better perspective before making any firm decisions. Of course, if you eventually decide that skydiving is not for you, there's nothing wrong with that.

Good luck, Doug

[lisamariewillbe 1]

I definitly learned that this past sunday, but I got on a load as soon as the dz doc said it was okay, and ya know it was an unbelievable jump.

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[skydivermom 0]

Surprisingly, the parachute ride and watching that awesome sunset made the whole thing worth it. I know I need to get back up there, I'm just scared of freefall now. Will I ever get the arch down?

I understand it's rather unrealistic of me to expect to just be a natural at this. The only thing that will keep me from continuing solo skydiving is if I find out there is some health reason why I should not do it. I'm planning on trying again either Aug. 6 or 13. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted. Thanks for the encouragment!

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[amy 0]

I had a similar problem with arching when I started (I was about as far from a "natural" as you can imagine!) What made it worse was the fact that I was in a static line training program, which meant that when I left the plane on my first freefall jump, there was no one there to help me out.

What finally worked for me was spending five or ten minutes every night before I went to bed, lying on the floor in front of a mirror arching. I'd go through the dive flow right up to pull time, then rest and go through it again. I think it did two things for me - one, it strengthened my back muscles a lot (doing a good arch on the floor of your bedroom is a lot of work), and two it taught me muscle memory. I think the fact that arching on the ground is so much harder than it is in the air also helped, because I ended up in a very aggressive arch in the air since my muscles were so used to working hard at it on the ground.

Practicing at home will help a lot with your confidence, too.

Good luck!

Amy

[noblesmelissa 0]

Wow!! Sorry it was so rough for you!!! My home DZ is San Marcos and Ilya was my ground school instructor. Im glad to hear they were helpful and understanding. Ive had great experiences there so far.

Hopefully you will be back in the air soon!!!

[skydivermom 0]

Melissa,

Nice to hear from another fellow student at SM. I will definately continue skydiving, but unfortunately (in a way) not in San Marcos. I love that dropzone but I live about three hours away and that was causing some of my stress I think. I have found a place about an hour away and their prices are a lot cheaper (because they are really small). They do static line and from what I understand it is supposed to be more gradual. I let myself get overwhelmed with all the info. and what I was supposed to do on the skydive instead of just concentrating on arching. I can't stay away from San Marcos so I'm sure I'll be going down there while in training and doing tandems every now and again.

Ilya was wonderful! He had some great advice that I know will help me a lot. Everyone at San Marcos took such good care of me. Mike and Douva were the ones who were with me during that wonderful freefall and they made me feel so much better about the mishap. Hopefully I will see you out there sometime.

Mrs. WaltAppel

All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28

[skysprite 0]

Wow, that's crazy girl! Glad you're feeling better about it now though! I did static line myself, and honestly I'm glad I did it. I can't compare it to AFF because I've never done a single AFF jump, but in my opinion static line is more gradual, and for me was a whole lot less information overload than I think AFF would have been. Definitely give static line a try if you think that sounds a bit more comfortable. You will have to go back to freefall eventually, but maybe the slower progression will just get you used to the different feelings inside the plane, on climb out, outside, letting go, etc etc.

~skysprite

[riggerrob 563]

Good point.
We had so many students overwhelmed on their first free fall, that CSPA discarded the whole concept of first jump freefall.
Now most Canadian DZs insist on two or three tandem/IAD/static-line jumps before introducing students to freefall instructors.
Definitely jump static-line until you are comfortable exiting and steering the parachute.
Also remember that the lower altitudes for static-line will reduce pressure changes in your sinuses and ears.

Fatigue is also a major factor.
When I taught at Hemet, California, we found that freefall students had the best results if they spent all day Saturday in the classroom, let the new information sink in overnight and did their first freefall on Sunday morning.

[apley 0]

skydivermom, i was the biggest retard in skydiving when i did my AFF. i think a big part of it was my age. i was 46 when i started, and terrified through all 16 of my 7 AFF jumps! my arch sucked, i couldn't feel what my legs were doing, and could barely remember all of the details that would indicate success on every jump...

now, i'm still a little timid in a group, but love the sport so much that i have become a pretty good coach, albeit a mediocre freeflyer. (those that can't, teach?)

anyway, i agree with those that advise you to do static and progress a little more slowly. you WILL get the arch. you've heard it a million times, but relaxation is the key to getting stable. a few statics, and the fear will subside, and body awareness increase.

also... definitely practice that arch on terra firma. muscle memory is where it's at!

welcome to our twisted world, girl! say hello to mark deverter at san marcos if you see him.