I'm a SKYDIVER!

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

I went SKYDIVING! I did it! And I'm still here to tell the tale!

Skydiving yesterday was the scariest, most thrilling, freakin AMAZING thing I have ever done in my life. I went from being scared out of my MIND for days ahead of time to thinking "I'd do this again in a HEARTBEAT."

I'm still so pumped and giddy about it, I feel like I won't even be able to tell the story well. I just want to scream over and over, "It was so cool! Ahhhh!" But that won't really tell you much, will it?

The anticipation had been building for days, and yesterday it seemed like it took forever for 3:00 to roll around. I bugged Dave all day by reciting statistics and pretending to jump out of an airplane while flailing my arms and screaming. Finally 3:00 came and we left for East Troy. We were to be there at 4:00 and we made it to Sky Knights Skydiving with plenty of time – about 20 minutes – to spare.

It was a day that seemed specifically designed for flight. Not a cloud in the sky, a huge sun shining from above, and a perfect 75 degrees or so. We were greeted by Suzy at the front desk, and she had us fill out all the necessary forms (read: liability waivers). We told her immediately how scared we were, but she put us at ease. She told us that a group was up there right now so we went up to the observation deck to fill out our forms and search the sky for people who were doing what we'd be doing shortly.

We watched as a group of jumpers made their way to the ground, their huge, colorful parachutes trailing behind them. A few were instructors with students and first-time jumpers attached, and the others were veterans making their second or third jump of the day. The tandem groups made soft, easy landings while the vets came sailing by at close to sixty miles per hour.

Once the forms were finished, we watched a short video in a room off of the observation deck that spoke more on liability and then about the art of tandem jumping. The man in the video had a very long beard and he made us laugh, so we took his picture. We were getting really nervous, so we documented that, as well.



We watched three more groups of people go up and jump before it was our turn. It felt good to see so many people go up and get back down safely, but it also prolonged the nervous anticipation we were feeling.

It was fun to be a spectator for a couple of hours, though. We saw hot air balloons in the distance, and the whole surrounding area was really pretty. It seemed like there was always something to be watching – the plane taking off and landing, jumpers jumping and landing, and then more people going up.

We saw two people do a static line jump, which is where the plane goes up only about 4,000 feet and the parachute comes out right away after you jump and you sail on down. Doing a static line jump requires a half day of instruction and you do it on your own. A person on the ground is on a walkie-talkie with you, telling you which way to turn and where to land.

I was getting more and more psyched the more I watched. Dave was pretty nervous, too. All day he had seemed hesitant to me, like he didn't know if he wanted to do it. I didn't want him to do it just for me! I think this picture is funny – he was hiding because he was scared!



There was a man there named Mac who was jumping for the first time with a friend of his, and he went up in the plane before us. He was hilarious, but he also made me kind of nervous and I was glad we didn't go up with him. He really had a devil-may-care attitude. He asked me, "are you scared?"

I said "yes."

"Then you should not go. If you die today, it is your time."

Well then.

When it was almost our turn to go up, we went into another room and suited up. It took us a few tries to find jumpsuits that fit. Dave tried on a skin-tight red one and had everyone laughing their butts off. Our instructors were up in the plane doing jumps with other people, so we didn't meet them until right before we were to go up.

                                          

I jokingly told Suzy at the beginning that I wanted a cute instructor, and I got one! He was a doctor named Tom, and he'd done lots and lots of jumps before. I think you have to do something like 500 individual jumps before you can be an instructor, and he'd done lots of tandems already, too. The guy that Mac went up with – it was only his second tandem jump ever! That would have made me nervous!

Dave was with a cool guy who went by the name of Hoochie. We also met our photographer, Joey, and he was awesome, as well. I was hoping I'd like the people who were going to do this SCARY thing with me, and it was a relief when I did! Tom and Joey both teased me quite a bit while we were waiting for the plane to come back down and get us because they knew how scared I was, but I could take it. By this time, I was getting really, really excited.

The plane landed and we made our way over. A spectator there had told me that the plane was very new and was specifically designed for skydiving, so that made me feel good. It was just five of us in there – us and our instructors and then Joey, who had a video camera and a regular camera strapped to a helmet on his head.



The plane took off and I started to panic a little. It was like, "there's no turning back now." Dave was very calm. I, on the other hand, was having some pain in my stomach, like I was going to throw up. We climbed higher and higher and higher, and the ground soon became just squares below us. I was wearing a thing on my hand called an altimeter that told me how high we were. I could have looked at it on the way down, but I never thought of it. I did look at it in the plane, though, and it was so scary when it said we were at 12,000 feet. It was almost time!

A few moments earlier, Tom started attaching our harnesses together. As he did it, he said "upper left secure," "lower right secure," and so on. Then he asked, as the instructors always do, "Are you ready to skydive?" and I said, "hell yes!" as he had told me to, although I wasn't feeling NEARLY as confident as I sounded!

Joey opened the door and THERE was the Earth, two miles below. He swung himself outside the plane so he could film us leaving. Dave and Hoochie made their way to the edge. I screamed "I love you!!" and then POOF! they were gone. Tom and I scooched across the bench toward the door. I put my arms across my chest like he told me to, and on the video (which I already got to take a look at) you can see me saying, "Oh my God, Oh my God."

Tom said, "Ready, set, go!" and we jumped head first out of the plane. Joey jumped with us so he could film the freefall. As soon as we jumped, I flung my arms out like a bird. I had told Tom I didn't want to do any flips, but since you go out head first, one flip is inevitable and it felt so crazy!



The freefall lasted a full minute, which is a LONG time to be falling 120 miles per hour toward the ground. In thinking about what the fall would be like, I thought it would just be scary actually leaving the plane and then the fall would be no problem.

I'm not gonna lie: it was terrifying.

Terrifying in a GOOD way, though, like I don't think thrills can get any bigger than this. We were falling so fast and it was chilly and loud and I wasn't sure what to do with my mouth and how exactly to breathe. I was conscious of trying to look cute and cool on the video and I wanted to smile, but when I opened my mouth to smile, the wind made my cheeks flap! It was funny. I took in small breaths when I could and did my best to look calm!



The small chute above us on these freefalling pics is called a drogue chute. It keeps you from flipping all around, and it also slows you down to about 120 mph instead of like 200 mph. And don't mind Tom's tongue on the last one. He looks like a big dirtball in the pic, but he was a really nice guy. Boys will be boys, I guess! =)

On the video, you can see Tom above me giving the thumbs up and pretending to swim. He's just cool and collected and I have no idea what he's doing while I'm just freaking out below him! I could see Joey falling right by us, giving me thumbs up and clapping and smiling, like he was just hanging out with us rather than speeding toward the ground!

Tom grabbed my hands and had me hold hands with Joey and we spun around really fast and I let out a big squeal, it was so fun! Then we let go and Joey waved good-bye. He was going to freefall longer so that he could beat both Dave and me to the ground and film our landings.

Tom grabbed my hand to pull the rip cord. It took me a few seconds to find it and I thought, "oh, no! I can't find it and we're going to get too low!" I pulled it though, and for the next five seconds, the chute came out and grabbed the wind and there was a big WHOOOOSH sound and just like that, we were floating.

It was such a huge contrast between the last minute we had spent falling. It was suddenly so quiet! The relief I felt that the canopy had opened was enormous. I wanted to cry! I think I told Tom that I loved him. My ears were a bit plugged from the fall and he sounded really far away for the first minute or so.

He had me lift my legs and move the harness down a bit so I'd be more comfortable. I didn't want to let go of my harness above me, though! I didn't care if I was comfortable – but we did move them and it felt better. Then he had me grab onto the steering things with him. We pulled a hard right and then a hard left and we did two big twirls where we were like on our side parallel to the ground! It was fun, but I hadn’t fully recovered from the freefall yet so I yelled, "I don't want to do that again!"

I did a few more smaller turns, and then he took the ropes so that I could relax and take in my surroundings. Holy man, it was BEAUTIFUL. Breathtaking and spectacular. The sun had begun to set and we could see for miles and miles. He pointed out the Milwaukee skyline, and he pointed out where Chicago is – he said you can see it on really, really clear days.

Only then did I think about Dave and I asked where he was. We looked for a second and saw his parachute below us a ways. I was glad his chute had opened, too!

We were quiet for a few minutes and I was just delirious with happiness as I floated through the air. The lakes and fields were glowing from the setting sun, and it was just so peaceful.

Then just like that, I could see our landing area and it was almost over. He had told me a minute earlier how to hold my legs together and bring them up to land, so I put my legs up and we slid into the grass together. I was so happy to have made it!!



Dave's landing hadn't been so smooth. He had his legs up the way he was supposed to, but put one foot down too early and fell over, with his guy falling on top of him. It's all on video!



Like I said, I got to see the video, so I saw that when I landed, I just squealed with delight. I got up and just felt HIGH. After a few seconds, I saw Dave and yelled "HI!" and he came over and we discussed our jumps. He was calm, but he loved it, which I was happy about. I could not be calm, and I continued to freak out for the remainder of the time there and our whole drive home.

                           

We took a few more pictures and then went back and took our jumpsuits off. Joey gave us our roll of film, and then we went back into the room off the observation deck to watch our video. It was so great! He said he'd take it home to edit it and put it to music and then I'd have it by Friday or Saturday. I can't wait! Dave and I are going to try to put it online somehow so that I can link to it on here.

We got certificates for our first jumps – which are of course going to go on the fridge! We thanked Suzy and Tom and Hoochie and Joey and it was about 7:30 when we left. I called both my parents and both my brothers and my best friend on the way home to geek out to them and tell them I was safe. They were all relieved and excited – and jealous!

We got burritos from Qdoba for dinner and I had a margarita to toast my adventure. We took our film right to Walgreens and they told me it probably wouldn't be done til morning, but I could check back at like 9:30 if I wanted to. They were done when I called – yay! – so I ran back over there to get them. As you can see, both the pictures that we took on my camera and the ones that Joey took are FABULOUS. I love them all! The only one I'm disappointed about is the one of me leaving the plane, but I understand it can't be easy! The one of Dave leaving the plane turned out well, so that's cool.

So you obviously know what I'm going to say next: YOU HAVE TO GO SKYDIVING!

Seriously, though, I know a lot of people are scared to jump out of a plane, and I don't blame them. But once I did it, I realized how silly it was to have been scared. It's so safe! Parachutes are meant to open! And the experience is completely out of this world – indescribable.

It's a pretty expensive thing to do – it's $165 per person at Sky Knights – but it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And it's not like it's an expense that isn't justified. The equipment, the fuel for the plane, the instructors, the jumpsuits and instruments – it's all expensive. So it's not like they're overcharging. And it's a small price to pay when you get a thrill that you just COULD NOT GET by doing anything else.

You know me – I'm one of those people who thinks you just HAVE to try everything once. If you don't like it, you don’t have to do it again! But just to have experienced it, and to say you've done it, is the best!

I honestly thought that it'd be one of those things, like running a marathon, that I'd enjoy but never, ever want to do again. Just check it off the life to-do list! But I TOTALLY want to go again, and when I have the money to, I'm going to. It's like, "hey, I made it to the ground safely once, why risk it again?" But I want to feel that way again! And most of the fear came from the unknown, by not knowing what to expect. Now that I know what to expect, I'd be better able to pay attention to what's going on.

So there you have it – I'm a skydiver now!

Whew – that was a long story. I hope I told it well … it was just the greatest experience! Now I can get back to my screaming and freaking out, which is what I'm best at.

It was so cool! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Comments

[Derek]

Sounds like fun, nice job! Your write-up made it sound so exciting my hands were sweating! :)

[Christi]

Yeah pretty sure my hands are sweating, and I have a nervous stomach..almost as if I were the one jumping out of a plane!

I can't believe you did it before I did. I always said it would be my treat to myself for graduating college (well..first it was when I turned 18) but of course I've procrastinated it a long time.

Save up girl..you can go with me when I go ;)

[indigo]

You went skydiving? Oh my gosh. That looks like it would be totally scary, but very fun!

[Mark]

Where've you been indigo? But WOW! Great job!! I can't believe you did it! That's super awesome! Waaaaaaaaaaay jealous. You rock. And Dave, you rock too. Kudos to you both for goin through with it!

[Nicole]

You did it! Congrats! Still dont know if I would be able to, but your story makes it sound more exciting than I thought.

[kenju]

I don't know if I can do that or not - but I feel as if I have - through your description! Michele sent me.

[emaleejayne]

What a great story! Congratulations! And the pictures are great!

[oz]

This was my favorite part that you wrote about Dave: "I was glad his chute had opened, too!" Ha!

That one guy sure does like sticking out his tongue a lot.

[Christi]

I never realized it before. Your little Skydiving instructor was HOT!!! =) Lucky girl!

[Erin]

Yes, he did stick his tongue out on almost every picture. And YES, he was hot! And super cool, too! (Did I just say super cool?) I told you, I asked for a hottie and I got one!

[Charlie]

Wow... that sounds like sooo much fun. Great pictures.

Did it beat the "rush" of geocaching? :) LOL

[Tom]

Erin,

Thanks again for skydiving with us. We had a blast taking you and Dave. Do you have a link to the video yet?

You know what the next step is in the adventure? -Getting a group of friends together, taking the class, and jumping by yourselves.

(You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do. -Eleanor Roosevelt)

-Tom

P.S. The tongue seems to be an involuntary reflex when I'm skydiving, not meant to be offensive.

[Erin]

Hey Tom!

I'm glad you came on and read the post! As you can see, I had SUCH FUN.

No offense was taken at the tongue thing! I have the same reflex when I've had a bit too much to drink - my tongue comes out in every picture! And skydiving is way cooler than being buzzed - so it's all good!

I haven't gotten the video yet. I hope it comes today! Then we'll work on getting it posted online.

I will DEFINITELY be back to go skydiving again. I think I'd do another tandem before doing it on my own - can I request you again? =)

Anyway, thank you again!!! (you hottie, you)

[Tom]

You'd be much too comfortable to do another tandem, you're definately ready for the next step. So, I'll be there to teach you the class and hold on to you in the air. Deal.

Check the link out under AFF
http://www.skydivemilwaukee.com/index.cfm?area=aff

[Sarah Mankowski]

Girlfriend,

You have bigger cojones than . . . I don't know - something/someone with big cojones. Wow. Did it put hair on your chest? Wow. What a brave woman you are.

[ToddZ]

Nice writeup! You do a better job of relating the experience than most people do. Glad you had a good time at our DZ -- maybe I'll be there to join you next time...

[Alan]

Just one of the things I wish I could talk myself into trying. Well you just never know...

Enjoyed your pages.