I am excited that my longtime girlfriend has offered me a birthday jump. I found DZ, in the effort to find direct links to dropzones, rather than the sketchy looking "skydiving near " websites. Prior to her offer, I have never mentioned that this has always been something I would like to do. She thinks this is a one and done type affair, but I expect I will like it too much. The big decision for me is to go for a tandem, or to begin the static line progression. I can begin training and have two static line jumps for the cost of one tandem. (The nearest dropzone is Skydive Eagles Nest, a single Cessna operation, and is 120 mi. away.) My preference is to work towards an A license, but I do not know if I can maintain the monthly commitment due to work conflicts, and budgetary constraints. I have already learned a lot here on DZ. (I had this vision of strapping on my linemans boots, and buying a cheap action cam to capture my own view, DOH!) Thanks for providing the facts on why these are both bad ideas. More about me: I am no stranger to low margin of error activities, as I have been doing recreational rope work since a very young age, (rappelling, climbing, caving.) And work as a local theatrical stage rigger, among other things. I really like that so many of the DZ.com regulars seem to actually *know* each other. Perhaps one day we will meet.
