jamiem

Thanks for all the good words! So far everyone at my dz has been very supportive of me trying to sitfly, and I've been trying to get the hang of it on my own and soon will do a coach jump with a really good freeflyer there. I'm just so anxious to try new things I have to remember sometimes taking it slow can be good too!

Hey everyone. I've done a little posting on here but had never introducted myself so here goes... I did my first tandem on my 21st birthday with my family and I was instantly hooked! I then spend the next year and a half saving money and building up the courage to take AFF and about two months ago I did! My home DZ is Parachute Center in Lodi and I have been so impressed by everyone there. I have 37 jumps now in the two months and I am sooooo addicted! I unfortunately work during the week so I guess I'm just a weekend warrior. But this past Tuesday i was able to learn how to pack my own chute which means I GOT MY A LICENSE! :) It has been one of the most rewarding things of my life. I know people have lots of opinions about this because I still don't have a ton of jumps, but I just started learning how to sitfly. I have picked up skydiving fairly quickly and love challenging myself so I felt like now was a good time. Well enough about me already! Nice to be here!

You are going to love it! The first tandem I did instantly hooked me into this sport. I spent the next year and a half dreaming of taking AFF and once I had the money saved I did it. This might be the beginning of a whole new life for you!

I did my first tandem on my 21st birthday. Then saved enough money to do AFF and I did it when I was 22. I wish I would have started earlier!!

whoa, what made you do AFF if you've never even done a tandem before?! That's pretty cool. I can't really tell you if it will get better for you or not because I was never scared. I was so pumped and had so much adrenaline after my first tandem that I have always enjoyed it 100%. Hopefully it will get better for you...but it's not for everyone.

I completely agree. I just graduated college and I took my AFF class over the summer and did all my jumps then. Problem is now I started my fulltime job and I think about skydiving ALLLLL DAY LONG! I'm already an obsessive person but this has just taken it to a new level. I talk about it constently to my friends and family, and I just want to learn everything I can and jump all day long. In fact I havn't jumped in a week and a half, and I'm counting down the days till Saturday so I can go! It's nice to see other people are struggling with the obsession too!

Are you a member of the USPA? They offer insurance on skydiving related injuries. That's enough to at least let you jump again, but for day to day medical stuff I wouldn't know much about that.

I went to this DZ for my first two tandems. Both times the instructors were very helpful and fun, and the jumps were amazing...but both times the wait was excrusiatingly long. They take reservations for tandems starting at 9am..but if the fog doesn't burn off then the entire day is delayed. For my second tandem I went and waited 8 hours and still didn't get to jump and had to come back another day and wait another 6 hours to jump. The girl at the front desk is often rude and misleading on wait times just so she can get your money and then you're locked in. I have never jumped there as a solo jump and I am interested to try it, but for a tandem be prepared for a very long wait to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

I took the AFF course at the Parachute Center and have made all of my solo jumps there. The staff recognizes me, knows my name, and checks in with me after every jump to make sure I am comfortable and to answer any questions. Bill Dause the owner takes the time to talk to me about my jumps and is very involved. It gets very busy over the weekend with tandems but they put up two planes to keep the wait times down for solos. They have a good selection of rental gear and I can go on the weekend and completel 4 jumps in 4 hours with their rental gear. VERY FRIENDLY STAFF and lots to look at and do during the downtime in their hanger. I would highly recommend this to anyone starting out or anyone who is an expert because on the weekend there are always group jumps going you can get involved with.