The Sky is Falling

Or wait, I was falling. This was the day of reckoning - the skydive birthday present. We lucked out with the weather as it was a perfect sunny, blue sky day. We arrived promptly at 10:30 and immediately filled out a form with the following questions: #1 - Name (fair enough); #2 - Next of Kin (what ever happened to emergency contact?); #3 - Weight (which they then write on your hand in magic marker that stays for three days).

When it was our turn to jump we were suited up in adorable little red jumpsuits with skullcap hats. We were shown a 5 minute video - yep, just 5 minutes - on what to do during the jump. I stopped paying attention when they mentioned the banana pose.

As it was a tandem jump I got to go with this super cute Kiwi - Kane. All was good as we boarded the plane until I realized that last in meant first out - yikes. We flew up to 12,000 feet where the fun started. First I got to sit on Kane's lap as he harnessed us together. Next, we moved awkwardly toward the door with me on Kane's lap. By now the door was open and we were looking 2 miles down. Double yikes. We sat with my legs dangling out the door for about 30 seconds before we just jumped.

The first 3-4 seconds are pretty terrifying as you're gaining speed - up to 200 km/hour. Once you hit terminal velocity you just feel like you're flying, even though you're really plummeting toward earth. This lasts for about 25 seconds before the chute is pulled and you're jerked straight up. I actually found the freefall scarier than the initial jump as we were doing all these sharp turns and you really have time to realize just how high up you are. From there it's about 3-5 minutes to landing which was surprisingly easy.

At this point the jump was about 2 weeks ago but I can't stop thinking about it. It's totally amazing and I think I'd do it again.