Dougiefresh

Who cares about who gets fined... let's be safe, fer cryin' out loud. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

How dare you refer to my addiction as a religion! An insult to perfectly good addictions everywhere... Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

It's normal and healthy to be nervous. But a big part of this sport is learning to overcome and control your natural impulses. Take a deep breath, you'll be fine. The worst thing you can do is worry and worry and worry so that when the day comes you are all tense. Relax! Your jump will go much smoother and you will enjoy it more. Welcome to skydiving, the best sport ever invented! Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

More importantly, how are you affording it? Want to pay for some of my jumps? Please? :) Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

This is a perfect example of why I love this sport. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

I feel your pain. I, um, didn't arch going out the door yesterday. On video, of course. I flipped and flailed for two seconds before gaining stability. I'm looking at it as my introduction to freeflying. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

At UW-Madison, the skydiving club is not helped by the school at all. Basically we take as many people to do tandems at SDC as we can several times a year, and charge them a membership fee. SDC gives all madcity people a discount, and are much more supportive of us than the school. Makes sense, they make bank when we bring down 60 people. It works, so my advice is find a kickass dz and get them to help. Knowing the skydiving community, they probably will. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

That is an awesome vid. What did the tandem student thinK? Probably something along the lines of "Oh, sh**!" Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

Check it out... http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/05/08/veteran.parachuters.ap/index.html/ I say let 'em jump, and that's not just the skydiver in me talking. They earned it. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

At my home dz, you have to sign away all your rights to sue if anything happens. This includes a section that sates if you do sue and win, you have to reimburse the dz for whatever they lost. I assumed this was standard language at dzs. Is this not true? I'm no lawyer, but it sounds like this lady wouldn't have a case anyway. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

Join the crowd...

crestfall is right. It's relativity, kids. Relative to your body's motion, the blood is essentially not feeling any acceleration. Relative to the ground, the blood is feeling an acceleration of 9.8 m/s/s. On the ground tho, your blood feels the same acceleration relative to your body, so the blood rushes to your head. Now try the same question at the speed of light, it gets tricky.

Mental Training for Skydiving and Life by John Derosalia -- good book that instructs how to keep mentally focussed. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

A couple summers ago an instructor at SDC pulled for an student who passed out in freefall. Of course, the student had a cypres, so not really the same thing. No injuries, but the student hasn't jumped since. Can't say I blame her. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

jimmy2.jpg is an awesome shot, I love the wake he's leaving, it goes on forever Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

sweet. I want one! Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

From their website... IAD Instructor Assisted Deployment is a training method that opens your parachute almost immediately upon leaving the aircraft. You are never attached to the plane and the deployment sequence is identical to the way experienced skydivers open their own parachutes. Does this sound like S/L to anyone else? I wouldn't call myself an experienced skydiver, but I'm pretty sure I don't pull "immediately after leaving the aircraft". But they claim you're not attached. So what is this, a hop and pop with your instructor pulling for you? Anyone know? Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

Tangentially, there is also a club you can join, the Madcity Skydiving Club. Affiliation with the UW is not necessary, all ages and skill levels welcome. Our home DZ is Skydive Chicago, and we have leapfests 3-4 times a year. Those of you who have experienced a leapfest will know it is a whole planeload (or 10) of fun. http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~madskydive/ Message me with questions. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

Yeah, those motorcyclists are f'in crazy. Motorcycles are so DANGEROUS!

Ummm, gear check? What if it had been a leg strap? Not so funny then. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

Apparently I was misinformed. Please disregard what I said about Roger's death. Just parroting what I heard, I should know better. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

Sounds like hypoxia to me... basically your blood isn't carrying enough oxygen to your brain. I know a girl who passed out in freefall because she tightened her straps too much, cut off circulation. Lucky she had a very very very good instructor who pulled for her, and she landed soft. I would reccommend not giving blood for a while, like several days, before jumping. Lets face it, jumping is strenuous, and you need that good old o2. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

Hey, also new to skydiving, only ever jumped at SDC. As far as i'm concerned, it's a little slice of heaven on earth. The instructors are awesome, the people are friendly, and it's a real learning community. I have never felt unsafe jumping there. As far as the deaths go, Roger Nelson (former owner) died when someone did a right handed landing pattern. SDC is LEFT HAND. The guy went into Roger's canopy, nothing anyone could do at that point. And some dude died when swooping the pond without instruction and despite warnings from just about everyone. I would not worry about their safety record, they're actually quite good. It's just that a ton of people jump there, and shit happens. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

Some people pay tons of money for cigarettes, which will probably kill you. Some people pay tons of money to soup up their cars and drive fast, which can kill you. Some people pay tons of money to jump, which can kill you. You have to answer the question yourself. Risk v. reward. Don't worry kid, you're on the right path. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams