Skydiving from 18,000ft

Skydiving from 198,000ft

It’s always seemed to me that one of Man’s greatest thrills and challenges would be to experience the feeling of freefall and flying – maybe there’s something about pushing life to the boundaries to see how far one can go, or feeling the sensation and cheating death. For me, skydiving has been on my Life List for several years, and now I’m finally going to do it.

When I was in New Zealand in 2004, I was scheduled to skydive in Queenstown after my whitewater rafting trip (it would be quite the adrenaline rush day), but as soon as I got to the skydiving shop, I was told flights for the rest of the day were canceled due to suddenly turbulent air – which apparently is a common occurrence and possibility with skydiving; conditions need to be within a certain tolerance of wind and rain. I was very disappointed.

Well, now it’s 2011, and coming up to be my 32nd birthday, and it’s as good as a time as any to jump. I’d been working, and saving up some money, so I could afford the trip. In Southern California there are several places to go skydiving, and I chose Santa Barbara for several reasons – the town is beautiful, it’s near the ocean, and this particular company has tandem dives from 18,000ft. That was a big seller to me; most places jump from 10,000, 13,000, or 15,000 feet. I’ve never seen 18,000ft.

The week before I was to jump, Southern California had had a lot of heavy winds followed by heavy rain – two conditions that will most certainly cancel any flights. A few days before my trip, the weather had let up, and was bright and sunny, but the forecast was for rain on Sunday (the day of my jump). So I was nervous about going. If I go, I’d be spending a lot of money to take the trip, stay in the hotel, just to not jump, but decided I would go anyway.

I find a ride on Craigslist in the Rideshare section with someone going from San Diego to San Francisco, and they were willing to drop me off in Lompoc, as long as I contribute some gas money (very fair deal). The car was a newer Honda Accord, which was very comfortable, and consisted of two brothers and another rideshare going to Los Angeles. We mostly just sat and listened to loud music.

Once we got to Lompoc, I was dropped off at the hotel, and had realized I left a bag with shoes in the trunk of the car. Luckily, they were heading back in a week, and would drop it off at my house on their way to San Diego.

The hotel I was planning on staying at (after reading decent reviews on Yelp) wouldn’t let me make a reservation without a credit card, so I went next door to another hotel, and got a room (I had to give them $200 cash as a security deposit, which was returned to me the next morning).

When I got to the room, I settled in, checked out the view from the window (which was a clear view to the airstrip where I’d be going in the morning), and I was off to bed. A few minutes after I got into bed, I heard a light scratch/tap sound on the window, and dismissed it as a branch brushing against the window, but then I remembered there were no trees or bushes outside the window, so I curiously got up to have a look. I left the lights off, pulled the curtain back a little, saw nothing, pulled the curtain a little more, still nothing, then threw open both sides of the curtain and was startled to see a large owl sitting on top of the air conditioning unit. We both looked at each other in surprise, I jumped back and he flew away. That was exciting, and I took it as a good omen for my flight tomorrow.

The next morning, bright and early, I went to the airstrip in hopes of jumping as the weather in the morning was perfect. Because of the heavy winds and rain from the past week, the air had been cleaned and the visibility was great. Since there may have been a chance to rain on the weekend, there were big puffy clouds in the sky, but no rain. This looks like the perfect environment to skydive – clear skies, clean air, no wind, and big puffy clouds.

In the airstrip, I was the only one there to skydive, so it looks like I may have my own plane. They said I have a good chance of jumping from 18,000ft, but the guy who usually films wasn’t available, so I decided on the wrist camera. While I was watching the required safety video, two more people showed up to jump; they wanted to jump from 13,000ft.

We got suited up, and ready to go. I was so excited, and not nervous. I just kept thinking, I’m finally going to skydive. We board the plane – in the very small body of the plane. Three jumpers with three more tandem instructors, and one pilot. Once we reached 13,000ft, the other jumpers got ready. The hatch door flew open, and a loud rush of air was heard. The first guy scooted forward, and as soon as they jumped out – whoosh! He was gone. That was so cool to see up close! The next girl looked a bit terrified of jumping (as you can see in the photo), and off she went. Wow that was cool to see them jump out!

Now it’s my turn. We scoot forward, and I’m instructed to close the door behind the last jumper (since we’re the only ones left on the plane, aside from the pilot). Now we ascend toward 18,000ft. We begin putting on supplemental oxygen masks as the air is so thin, and I look outside at the view I’m about to jump from. Amazing. I’m still excited; not scared or nervous.

Sitting in front of the closed hatch, he gives me the rundown on what we do. I’m instructed to open it back up, squat with one knee on the ground, and hold onto my harness. He will rock back and forth to the count of three, and we jump on three. Got it, let’s do it! So I open the door, again to the loud rush of wind, and we scoot forward to the edge of the door. Instinctually, my body is saying “What the heck are you doing?!”, but my mind is saying “Okay, here we go!”. I have a look at amazing view, and we start to rock back and forth – one… two… three!

And we jump! Whooooaaaa, that’s a weird feeling! The best I can describe it is how when you jump from about 4-5 feet off the ground, you have that half second of “falling”, but your mind knows the ground is right there and will catch you. Well, it’s kind of like that, but you’re mind is thinking “There’s no ground to catch me!” You just keep falling.

What a rush. It was definitely a major sensory overload. My mind was going a million miles an hour. I was thinking, “Wow, it’s so loud from the wind. It’s a cold up here. Wow, the view is incredible. I can see all the land. I can see the ocean. I’m finally skydiving; this is what it’s like. Okay, let me just enjoy the view. Wow, this is amazing. This feels weird. Do I like this feeling? There’s really nothing (that I’ve done, or can think of that is) quite like this sensation. I’m glad I’m doing this. Would I do it again? Let me enjoy the view and experience…” So many thoughts. Then all of a sudden I feel a change and the parachute is opened. That was already 90 seconds of freefall. Wow.

 

 

Descending down with the parachute is a whole other feeling. The rush of the wind stopped, the sense of falling stopped – it was a sense of weightlessness, and a peaceful descent down with a great view all around. That’s the best word I can use for this part – peaceful.

Just before getting to the ground, I was told to extend out my legs, and catch myself once we land. We had a solid, safe, and smooth landing, and just when the guy was complimenting me on not falling (apparently most people fall when landing), the parachute caught wind, and pulled us back. We disconnected from the parachute, and celebrated the awesome jump. Wow! I finally did it!

So, now what? well, I decided to walk a few miles to the farmer’s market to see about some organic food and get a bite to eat. Still on an adrenaline high from the jump, I’m just ecstatic and have an enjoyable walk, thinking about life, and all the possibilities.

The farmer’s market was a bit small, with few organic stands that have food I can eat on the spot without cooking. I got some of the famous Santa Barbara Pistachio Nuts, and enjoyed those.

After the market, I walk across the way to a shopping center, and call a cab to take me to the train station to head back home (since I hadn’t planned a rideshare back). The cab happened to be the only cab company in town, and the driver was nice – though she talked an awful lot about her personal relationship life. The train stop was right on the beach, and since I had about an hour wait, I walked around and talked with a few people I met there. One woman and I talked for a while, about life, and living with possibilities. I told her I just went skydiving for my birthday, and that I enjoy doing things that put life into perspective. We talked a lot, and she strongly recommended I read a book called ‘The Celestine Prophecy’, which had been recommended to me by someone else, so I guess I need to read it.

I got on the train, and enjoyed the 4-hour ride along the sunsetting shore to Los Angeles, then connected to Orange County. What a weekend! The next day, I went back to the corporate job, looking forward to sharing my experiences with my friends and co-workers (bring a little bit of excitement in the office). Certainly a most memorable birthday (though everyday is a day to be celebrated).