I jumped out a plane yesterday. On purpose. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever done. A lot scarier than swimming with sharks.
In all of these photos I looked scared to death, don't I? :)
Here are some specs: we jumped from 14,000 feet. The guy who jumped with me is named Eddie and I think he's certifiably insane. We did a free fall for 60 seconds (9,000 feet). At 5,000 feet Eddie pulled the rip cord and we floated to the ground. I was supposed to pull the rip cord but when you are falling 9,000 feet you can't really think straight, so he pulled it for me. Thank God!
The free fall was absolutely the scariest thing I have ever felt. The wind is pushing up at you so hard that it's difficult to breathe, it sort of feels like you are drowning. Eddie did a couple of spins while we were free-falling, which made me think I was going to throw up. But I didn't. Thank God!
But when he opened the chute it was really beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky and I could see everything so clearly. And it's really quiet when you are 4,000 feet in the air. That part was very beautiful and peaceful.
It took awhile for the adrenaline to ease out of my blood stream. For the next 30 minutes my heart sort of hurt and it was beating so fast it felt like it was going to jump out my chest. But then it slowed down and I crashed from the adrenaline high and I got very sleepy, really fast. So Kurt drove us back to the city and I napped for about 30 minutes.
It took about 2 1/2 hours to get all the knots out of my hair. My recommendation for any future jumpers, do not put pomade in your hair and then jump 14,000 feet. It will get tangly.
This morning both of my shoulders and back are very sore. I think it's from where I was strapped in and when he pulled the rip cord we jerked pretty hard.
Battle wounds. :)
Wowzers. I can now check that off of my list of things to do. To recap the list:
1) swim with sharks (check!)
2) skydive (check!)
3) chase a tornado
Awesome job guys! (There were about 10 of us that jumped that day!)
Thanks to Kurt for being the photographer!
7 comments:
You got no photos of the actual jump??!!
Skydiving was one of the funnest thigs I ever did. I even did it on my own. Talk about scarry. I was the one in charge of my descent. and I got photos and a video too!
kurt took video of my landing but i opted out of paying $100 to have it videotaped.
that's amazing that you jumped on your own!!
you couldn't call your mother to let her know you weren't dead?
I had no idea this is what you were doing this weekend! Way to go - you are an incredibly gutsy woman! It was wonderful to talk to you on Friday - sorry to cut it short. We'll chat again soon. Love you - Karla
hey mom. i'm not dead.
i love you too, karla.
Welcome to the elite club of amature skydivers. We're an adrenaline junky group of people. Our average rainfall is 25" per year...
Ahem. I did take pictures of the decent but the camera did not have a far enough zoom to even see the chute clear.
I'd rather fly the plane then jump out of it.
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