So, how many people here have gone? What has been your experience with it? I'm going for the first time tomorrow. I won't lie, I'm getting more nervous as it approaches.
I've always wanted to go but I here prices are pretty steep. The lowest figures I've come across for a jump were $250+
I've been once. We jumped from about 13K feet up I believe, tandem, with about 45 seconds of free fall followed by 6 minutes parachuting down. When we jumped out I lost my breath and it took a about 5 sec before I was able to breath in. Then it felt as if you were floating, at that high up nothing is getting closer. The crappy part was when she pulled the zipcord and the force from the parachute caused the straps from the harness around each of my legs to dig into my inner thigh. That was %$&#&ing painful and was of great discomfort the entire way down. I had deep purple/black bruises for at least a week. She commented when after we landed as she was taking them off that they appeared to be on too tight. No #$%^! Other than that I guess it was fun. Something I may do again.
I did a tandem jump about 10 years ago, and it was a lot of fun. It went by unbelievably quickly, but I'm glad I did it. The plane I went up in was packed with a bunch of veterans, and they all kept trying to scare me. The night and day before I got a bit nervous, but once I stepped on the plane, I felt calm about the whole deal.
I went a couple of years ago, tandem. I wasn't nervous until the plane went up. While I was mentally going over everything I was supposed to do, I squeezed out a fart that toxified the air inside the cabin. The opened the roll-top jump door so we could get some fresh air... it was bad. I also couldn't get my breath when I jumped out; the air is so thin and it's moving by so quickly that it's not super-easy to breathe. That made me panic for a minute but I settled in and enjoyed it after that. It was a stunning experience, to be sure.
so what more do you have to do to not jump tandem? cost difference more time spent in a class? i think i would rather do it that way.
I went 3 times in Waller about 5 years ago. I you don't want to do tandem you have to sit through an eight hour class, which goes by pretty fast. Its an incredible rush. When I just the first time, it felt like there were a few missing seconds of time that lapsed before I realized what the hell I was doing. (not sure if that last sentence made sense.)
It makes perfect sense, and that's exactly how it was for me. A blissful state of confusion followed by the realization that you're skydiving followed by an incredible rush.
I talked to a guy who said it was a letdown -- boring and windy. It was exciting to jump out and pull the ripcord. After that, he was just waiting around to get to the bottom.
I went in Denver a few weeks ago. Best experience of my life, and I would encourage EVERYBODY to do it at least once. Seriously, it's life-altering.
Oh, HELL yes... this is one of those "you gotta do it once in your lifetime" things. It's expensive, so I may never do it again, but it was well worth it. I also did tandem and it was 60 seconds of freefall and 5 minutes under canopy. I had a pretty aggressive jump master and he put me through some slightly terrifying spins under the canopy. I like roller coasters, and this was kind of like that, so it was all good. Don't be afraid, be exhilarated. It is a great rush to be plummetting to the Earth and the view is incredible. Look around and enjoy it.
I did it a longass time ago in San Antonio. After the awesome freefall and the cord was pulled, the adrenaline wore off enough for me to think, "wow its ugly and yellow around here" I only did it once. I got the video. It was worth it. Now I have a kid, no way I throw myself out of an airplane.
