I was given an amazing gift while I was away. Jason and Brittany paid for me to jump out of a plane at 13,000 feet.
Its hard to sum it all up. I dont think a blow by blow retelling is going to do the job either.
Its an amazing thing, you dont get a sinking feeling in your stomach when you leave the plane, the ‘only’ way you know your even out of the plane is that the sound changes and you stabilize looking at the horizon rather than at the interior of the plane. There is no ‘rush’, there is no ‘agh!’, just a big smile.
Once you realize that you are in free fall, the best way I can describe it is freedom. Its a release of a bunch of things you never knew you were holding. The most obvious for me was breathing. You never think about your breathing when sitting or walking, or even on the bike, but when in free fall, the air is just rushing into your lungs and its so easy to breath, its like all the friction is taken out of the air and you are alive for the first time ever.
Its an odd slapping feeling when the parachute is opening, then once its open you get a powerful pull back and up.
Once that settles you can take your goggles off and look around. Its quite and peaceful. I just wanted to hang there for a long time. Its very comfortable and the view is amazing.
We did a few tight turns on the way down, but I was getting a little queasy, so we just rode it down. The landing was very gentle, just a few steps and your standing there looking at the ‘chute flutter to your side.
I can see how people would get hooked on it, for me though, it was about the release more so than any sort of adrenaline rush. I would do it again no problem. I would like to go a little higher and try a longer free fall and thus also longer glide back down.
The weather was perfect for us, warm enough to wear a t-shirt, and it was about an hour before sundown, so the light and shadows were just beautiful on the hills.
It was nice to leave the world behind for a little while.
Thanks guys.
