On May 19, 2012 I took my 20 year old to Skydive Orange to give him his 2 year late birthday present.  A chance to jump out of a plane!!  This was truly one of the most magnificent things I have ever done in my life.  After experiencing this, I can truly say you have not lived until you have felt the rush of free-falling out of a plane.  While I was in the Marine Corps, I had done many exciting things like Fast Roping out of helo's etc, but nothing at this height in the sky.  I explained that to the instructor and he said to me, "Fast Roping is much more dangerous that Skydiving.  You make a mistake Fastroping, you have not time to correct it.  You make a mistake up in the sky, you have plenty of time to fix it".  Looking back, the most nerve-racking part of this whole thing was the week prior to the jump.  Thinking about what was going to take place built up a lot of anxiety.  Essentially, the fear of the unknown.  The day of the jump was a completely different story.  The people and instructors at Skydive Orange were fantastic, never had second thoughts and I was actually excited about the jump.  I got to watch other people packing the parachutes, watched tandem and individuals landing and getting to ask them about the adventure.  They loved it!!! During the safety instruction the instructor told us if this was a first time jump, what the feeling would be like.  He basically described it as a complete sensory overload.  It was exactly that.  No feeling of your stomach dropping but just a complete feeling of....I'm flying!!  Rush!!  Amazement and beauty!! 

Because we were on a Skybus, we had to do a backflip out of the plane.  This was actually the most difficult part of the jump.  However if you follow the instructions, relax as they tell you to there is nothing to it.  After we stabilized, the person taking the video/photos came up close to me, extended both hands and he flipped over on his back.  This gave him the opportunity to take some great shots!

You can see me going for the photographer’s second hand and once we completely connect, he completely flips over grabbing this awesome shot.

The beauty of this shot is absolutely fantastic.  The day was perfect for a jump, not too cloudy, temperature was perfect and the sky looking amazing.

After I believe 6,000 feet of free-falling which took about 60 seconds, we popped the chute.  Once the chute is popped you, begin to feel gravity like we all understand it.  It was at this point that your stomach can get the butterfly feeling like you are on a rollercoaster.  I’ve felt much worse but it was there.  I did get to control the chute a bit, do some spins and the view at this height while you can actually think about it, see it and take it all in is breathtaking.  As we approached the landing I could see my Corvette off in the distance and it amazed me how tiny it was.

Overall the experience was unbelievable.  I could not stop talking about it for at least two to three days.  My endorphins were pumping through me so hard that I explained the sensation to everyone as “it was like getting the most amazing massage ever”.  I felt so relaxed when I hit the ground and also so small in the world.  Seeing the earth at 13,500 feet jumping out of an airplane was exhilarating but also made you feel almost insignificant in such a majestic, amazing and gigantic world.

 

Now the video was also fantastic and it captures pretty much the whole experience.  The pictures and video were pretty expensive however 110% worth it.  Plus, these guys doing the work have to make some money 🙂