Planning to go skydiving for my birthday

[CaptainCrunch]

I'm kidding

Your strapped in front of him facing away.

[Poison]

Dammit Crunch, give me the real scoop.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Poison

One question, when its tandem, are you strapped back against back or are you facing forward to the instructors back, or are you in front and hes behind......
(Man this sounds waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay offside)

Sleveless shirts optional.

[Poison]

LOL.......Ok so which one is the instructor, pitcher or catcher?

I didnt know Will Ferrell was big into it as well.

[stampsx2]

Anybody try HALO jumping and what was it like? Or is that something only the military does. I heard you jump from such a high altitude that you can lose consciousness because of the lack of oxygen up there.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

Anybody try HALO jumping and what was it like? Or is that something only the military does. I heard you jump from such a high altitude that you can lose consciousness because of the lack of oxygen up there.

Its extremely dangerous, you can get decompression sickness, etc. The military makes you breath nearly pure oxygen for an hour before you jump.

Plus there's the timing about jumping from 25000 feet and then pulling your chute at a low altitude. Its designed to get you on the ground as fast as possible while keeping the aircraft safe from SAMS.

I've seen HALO done with equipment drops, but not people, but I did look on the web and they do offer it.

[flamingreen]

Originally Posted by Poison

LOL.......Ok so which one is the instructor, pitcher or catcher?

I didnt know Will Ferrell was big into it as well.

You'll be catching.

[DownhillGoat]

Mrs kunkstyle and I just got back from our first jump. It was a blast! Full review and pics tomorrow.

[CaptainCrunch]

I look forward to reading it.

And seeing the pictures.

[DownhillGoat]

[DownhillGoat]

Poison: It really doesn't matter how you're strapped to the instructor. When the plane door opens that will be the last thing you're thinking about.

We had a great time. We ended up going to Vertical Extreme, which is down by Vulcan. Took us about an hour 45 to get to from Cochrane (about an hour from south Calgary). The hangars are out on the prairies but if it's clear out you can still see the mountains which was pretty cool. The dive master there (Hutch) was pretty laid back but definitely knew his stuff. He's been diving for almost 30 years. He did a dry run on the ground, then we got our gear on, and headed out to the plane. We then did another run through on the ground (this time we actually hopped in the plane and demonstrated). After that we took off. He did another walkthrough in the plane at about 4000 feet, then harnessed up, and jumped at 10,000 feet. I was doing fine on the ride up. It wasn't until the door opened up that I had that "Oh S***" feeling. We slid over to the door, I braced my self between the door and the jump platform, he gives the go signal and you push off.

The freefall was by far the best part (however my wife liked spinning around in the canopy better. That made me a bit queasy). We fell for about 40 seconds or so. I was actually surprised how little the chute jostles you around when it opens. It was worse than bunjee jumping, but better than most carnival rides. Once he got things straightened out, he let me steer a bit. That was neat, and I wasn't really expecting that. When my wife was steering he could tell she was enjoying it and let her to a bunch of spins. That was pretty neat to watch.

I bailed on the landing. Don't know if I tried to run or if my feet just got tangled up. My wife landed fine though. Both landings were actually really soft, which was surprising for how fast you're landing.

It was a great time. My wife already wants to book another jump.

Poison - have fun when you go on your birthday, and thanks for starting this thread. I doubt I would have gone yesterday otherwise.

[Poison]

Right on kunkstyle, thanks for the pics and reviews, ill definately be going to the same place and will write a review and post pics as well, im not going until late july for my birthday but will resurrect this thread if its buried deep.

If i like it as much as i think i will i may start a log and start doing it on a regular basis.

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by Poison

Right on kunkstyle, thanks for the pics and reviews, ill definately be going to the same place and will write a review and post pics as well, im not going until late july for my birthday but will resurrect this thread if its buried deep.

If i like it as much as i think i will i may start a log and start doing it on a regular basis.

hey poison

not sure if anyone mentioned this yet - but do you have life insurance already... and not becuz you're going to die when doing a jump...

my wife and i jumped probably 10 years ago now (back when we were still engaged). after we got married we thought it would be wise to get life insurance. one of the questions we were asked was about 'risky activities' and sky diving was in there. we answered honestly and then it was like jack bauer had us at ctu headquarters for an interrogation. i guess if you skydive they consider you high risk and that means higher premiums

just thought i'd mention it.


oh and by the way - skydiving is freaking AWESOME!!!! after the first time i jumped i was on a two-day adrenalin high! ha! ha!. the second time not so much, but it was still a blast. both times i went i did tandem - so you jump from about 10,00 feet and have about a 30 second free fall! … and if you have any kind of motion sickness you might want to take something before the jump… my wife puked afterwards – ha! ha!

[Poison]

bc-chris, funny enough this was moms biggest concern.....

Ya i have life insurance and when it comes up for renewal i gues i have a moral dilemna on my hands whether to answer honestly or not...

Not worrying about that now though, i think ill be okay on the motion sickness, unless we're spinning wildly, i dont do dizzy well.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Poison

If i like it as much as i think i will i may start a log and start doing it on a regular basis.

Have fun! Looking forward to your review & pics. If you do end up making it a regular activity feel free to drop me a line. Both my wife and I are thinking of getting certified for solo jumps.

[Poison]

Im booked and good to go for this weekend, thought id bump the thread and will most definately post pics.

Question; if i do the video option i assume its just a helmet cam, or do they film it some other way?

[CaptainCrunch]

Usually the jump master in the plane will film your um departure and decent. There is usually a helmet cam on your instructor too.

In my they took still shots of you deplanning, and a video of you landing.

Of course that was the day that I made a wrong turn decision into the wind and did a rapid decent facial crater. But I have it on video still.

[Huntingwhale]

What are the costs associated with an activity like this? I have never done it before but what to.

[DownhillGoat]

Don't remember exactly, but I think it ran us around $250 a person to jump with 2 people. (both jumping tandem).

If you want the full day lesson and a solo jump it costs more.

[Poison]

Ya its costing me $250 to jump, you can pay a bit more to go another 1000 feet higher but ten is enough for me for the first time.