fred

The night after my first jump, I was reading all I could about skydiving, and I came across a page with an aerial view of the ground and it stole my breath... These pictures never had the same effect before i'd actually been there. When I had my course, I looked at the aerial shot they had there, and started memorizing where landmarks were, and it had no effect. I looked at the same pic yesterday, and instead of looking at in the cold, 'scientifc' way i had the weekend before, it took my breath away. Oh, to be up there... Fortunately, I'm jumping tomorrow...

I'll add another newbie question. On my right shoulder, there is something that looks like a metal clasp and a small ribbon. It's a bit difficult to get a good look. When we asked about it, the JM told us, "It's a safety device. It would take a long time to explain." We were in a hurry to jump before sunset, so we didn't push it. And by the time we landed, we forgot all about it. What is it? What does it do?

A friend of mine used to work lawncare at a cemetary, and he always complained about "those damn mourners. Can't they see I'm trying to mow the lawn here?" He had many other stories about how the cheap caskets leaked embalming fluid that probably aren't appropriate here. His stories always made me laugh, though. When I was around 12 years old, my older brother had a severe asthma attack, and the doctors didn't think he was going to make it through the night (as it happened, he left critical care the next day and went home two days later in perfect health). When my parents and I were in the private waiting room, we joked. We made horrible, tasteless jokes that if anybody else had made, we would have scolded them. The were tasteless, definately sardonic. But it passed the time while we had no idea what was going to happen, and those moments of a strenuous smirk were worth it. It seems disrepectful, and my story/memory of it would probably have been different if he'd died that night. But as it is, the dark sense of humor made it much easier for me to deal with these aspects of mortality. I'm not really afraid of death, except that I don't want anybody to see my apartment as filthy as it is. That's what motivates me to survive each jump. ("Can't die now! There's a half-eaten pizza on my coffee table!")

I'm a computer geek, though that's rapidly changing to an altiholic. My subscription to Wired ran out in June, when I was still unemployed from my dotbomb. The magazine was definately catering to the millionaires-on-paper, and I lost interest. Does a tech magazine really need to show off their stock analysis charts? I'm very disillusioned.

Forgive my ignorance, but, "laterals"?

Hell yeah I did the bigshot. Almost tore holes in my palms getting up there, but I managed to get up there. I know, it's blasphemy, but I think I like the bigshot better than I like skydiving. I'll know for sure once I get back to Vegas. Looking out the glass at the observation deck? Not going to happen. I tried to grab onto the handrail, but I touched it and back right back up against the wall. Give me an airplane and a parachute any day over that. And yes, I really want to hear the story of the guy who base jumped off the strat. All you'd have to do is buy a ticket to the roller coaster and not strap in. And floating down onto the strip would be the most amazing thing ever.

Is there a link to the actual article? Or do I have to buy the mag?

Is having a dark sense of humor a key part of skydiving? I used to have a friend who worked lawncare for a cemetary. He always complained about the "damn mourners." "Can't they see that I'm trying to mow the lawn here!?" It cracked me up. And I read all the FAQ's an such and there's so much dark humor. "There are two ways down to the ground. Pull the ripcord and release the parachute, or don't. It's really your choice." "If your reserve doesn't open, you're life expectancy has just become 27 seconds." And I love the euphamism, "bounce." Like, "Fred bounced last week. We'll really miss him." Does the dark sense of humor come part-and-parcel with skydiving? Or is it simply a common way to deal with scary things?

Hell yes it blows my mind. I'm a newbie (3 jumps so far, should be 5 tomorrow), but from the moment I get into the plane until the moment I land, it doesn't even feel real to me. Like I'm living in a dream. Its not until I leave the DZ that I realize, "I just jumped out of a fucking airplane!" I stopped to fill up my gas tank on the way home last night, and almost screamed that at the person on the opposite pump. Unbelievable. On the otherhand, I actually am afraid of heights. I went to the stratosphere in Vegas in January and couldn't step away from the interior walls. If I didn't have that parachute on, I'd be panicking. As it is, I know that even if the worst thing happens, I can jump out of that airplane and will likely get to the ground safely. That rig on my back lets me know that I'm relying on my luck, not the pilot/architect to get me down safely. As for the comment about, "A skydiver lknows that one of the parachutes will bring [him] down safely", I don't buy it. I know that there is the slim chance that both chutes will fail, and I may "bounce"; that this jump might be the scariest anybody has ever faced. But I believe, though I do not know, that it is likely that the main will work, and if it doesn't, there's an even greater chance that the reserve will. Like most things in life, it's a question of faith rather than a question of knowledge.

FYI, I did jump #3 today. We were hoping to go on tuesday as well, which would have worked out nice to put jump 5 and 6 on saturday. (They make us do our last practice pull and first freefall (hop and pop?) on the same day). As it is, I will either do 1 jump or 3 on saturday. Or, more likely, do two jumps on saturday and just repeat #5 on another day. I hurt my shoulder on the jump, though. Not sure what I did to it. I have a feeling its related to my chest strap being too lose. I found the shoulder pads getting in my way on my turns. Oh, and I did get my practice pull. Apparently my arch needs some work, but at least I got it. My friend wasn't so lucky. Although he was told that he had a beautiful arch, he didn't remember to pull until the chute was already square overhead. I also had my first experience of not jumping first. I think I prefer being first out. Scooting around in that cessna is not fun. And when that door opens, my heart leaps, and as the second one out, I get that experience twice. I don't care for it. And on another note, my JM today was quite a hottie, and that made the experience even better. Some things didn't go so well. The wind was greater and the JM let us out too soon, so we were holding most of the way down. And I couldn't find the target for a 'long' time (it was, of course, behind me since I was holding, but for some reason that didn't occur to me. So instead of looking around like I wanted to, I kept scanning the ground. There was a storm front out coming across lake michigan that I would have liked to see, but I missed it. I thought I was going to have a perfect stand-up landing, but I fell forward (into the peas, though!). I found the experience of hanging out at the dropzone a lot more pleasant this time. Since it was a weekday, there were only a few people there, and it was easier to get into a conversation with some of the more experienced jumpers. I'm very excited about this weekend though. The temperature is supposed to drop to the low 80's, which will make hanging around in the DZ a lot more comfortable. Well, that's enough random thoughts about my jump. For those who'd still like to read my story of day one, I put it in the features section of my page, so you can read it here for all eternity. Good jumps, all.

Thank you all for your input. You sure are a friendly bunch. First, I know that I need to ask my JM/Coach these questions. Unfortunately, the questions didn't really come to me until long after the jump (I was still in an adrenaline-induced haze). While dz.com is available 24/7, my JM is only available when I'm there. Since the jump, I just can't stop thinking about it. My concentration is shot, I just keep hearing, "Get out and hang!" It made working today very difficult. My friend thinks we'll be out there again sometime midweek, which means my first freefall could be as soon as saturday, assuming I don't screw up my practice ripcord pulls. I got a line twist on my first jump (I think that's the correct term, like twisting on a swing? Not a major mal, but enough to raise the pulse of a first-time jumper), and I think that's a bit of a blessing. At least I know what to expect. Anyhow, some specific questions. First, thanks for the reassurance that I'm not a bohemoth when it comes to my weight. I'm still curious about whether there are advantages to being lighter. If I'm under a larger canopy, does that mean that I can't turn as quickly or ...? I don't know what else... Rainman, thanks for the kudos on my story. I try to be funny, but usually fail. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, I'm off to read the rest of the site. And to rehearse my practice pulls. And to dream about going up (well, down) again.

I'm a complete newbie. Forgive me if these have been asked before, or please direct me to the proper place to look. If you must flame, do so, but I'd rather you just ignore my posts. So, my first jump was on saturday. I went through the training and did a static line from 3500. The whole story about the jump is here (for at least a week, after that, find the 'August 5, 2001' entry). After the first jump, we went ahead and got our second out of the way (Hell, if we didn't have things to do that night, I might have gone for three.) Well, I'm hooked. We're going next weekend, and pretty much planning on making it a weekly thing. But I have a few questions, or at least curiosities. 1) I got a bunch of, "You'll probably jump first" comments at the DZ. Hell, they even took out a scale. I'm 6', weight 200lb, is it really that big for a skydiver? Looking around at the other divers, it didn't seem like it, but I'm really wondering if dropping 20# would make my life as a skydiver easier. 1b) What does it mean that I "have to ask for an 8 or 9"? Does that mean I have a larger canopy due to my apparent obesity? Or does it describe something else about the parachute? Do I have to pay attention to this if at some point in the future I'm interested in buying (possibly used) equipment? 2) After the jumps, my arms were really tired. Now, I have good upper body strength, but it wore me out. My friend who jumped with me didn't understand at all. I have some theories: First, he says he crabbed along on the way down, while I was trying to see how fast I could get the thing to spin. Second, I weigh more. Does this mean it takes more effort to pull the, er, steering things (what're they called?)? Or is it possible that I'm pulling the straps in such a way that it's taking more effort? 3) At such a low level, how many jumps could you actually do in a day? Is it advisable to take time off between jumps to let everything sink in? Or can I do what I want to do and go balls-to-walls-get-me-jumping-lots-so-I-can-freefall? 4) As I mentioned, even on my first jump, I was a bit of a daredevil while I was floating down. I wanted to put that canopy through its paces. My question is: is it possible to do anything with such basic controls (just the turn straps), that would cause a major malfunction? Or once the canopy is open and stable does it necessarily stay that way? I'm not talking about doing low turns, but I'm wondering if going from flares to tight spins to flares, etc., could put me in a position I don't want to be in. 5) Is there any sort of an on-line glossary that will explain what ya'all are talking about? Sometimes you use terms that I don't yet understand, and I'd like to be able to look them up. The rec.skydiving FAQ didn't really help. I'm sure there's more, but I'll see how these go over before I ask my more asinine questions.