What Did You Do This Weekend?
Tuesday 10 July 2007 - Filed under Code
I went skydiving!!
The girls and Brenda got me a gift certificate to go skydiving at Carolina Sky Sports. I turned 40 this year and Brenda thought it would be a better gift than socks and underwear :)
It was incredible! There are no words that can describe the feeling of sitting in the door of the plane staring out knowing in a few seconds you were going to jump out! The speed, noise, wind and then the quiet after the main chute deployed were all overwhelming to the senses. And I’m ready to go again! :)
2007-07-10 » Jim Priest
11 July 2007 @ 4:00 am
It’s a flipping blast, isn’t it?
I have jumped several times from CSS, I would /love/ to do it during the Fall season to catch the change of colors..
I think I have 4 jumps left for my cert (it’s been a while :( )
11 July 2007 @ 7:39 am
Next time I go will be in the fall/winter so the air is a bit clearer. The instructors were saying with the mild weather here they usually jump year round.
With 4 jumps left – can you jump solo yet (with assistance?)
11 July 2007 @ 7:48 am
I think one of my last ones will be solo with assistance. It’s been over 2 years since my last jump. I would probably have to do a bit of ‘brushing up’
The video makes me want to go today!
ps. Happy Birthday…
11 July 2007 @ 7:54 am
I’ve never been skydiving, but I spent 4 years in the Army as an airborne infantryman. I don’t know if you can do this as a civilian skydiver, but the jumps I enjoyed most were the night jumps. The quiet you mentioned (partially inspired by relief, I imagine) coupled with the amazing view of the stars on a clear night was absolutely amazing – and you get to be part of it rather than a ground-bound spectactor.
Similarly, night scuba dives are also insanely cool. :-)
11 July 2007 @ 8:04 am
They were having a ‘boogie’ over the July 4th weekend and there were several people I talked to who said they had jumped at night during the event.
I can only imagine how freaky jumping in the dark would be… :)
Scuba diving is next on my ‘todo’ list :)
11 July 2007 @ 9:52 am
It’s not as freaky as you might think, but the landing is a bit trickier. :-)
Scuba is amazing. Probably the most enjoyable hobby I’ve ever spent any significant amount of time doing.
11 July 2007 @ 10:19 am
That looks awesome! I have always wanted to go sky diving, but I am deathly afraid of heights :(
11 July 2007 @ 12:04 pm
@Ben
I’m afraid of heights, myself. Here’s what I learned: At that height it’s not so scary because you have absolutely no sense of scale. It never bothered me very much. Certainly not as much as I expected.
11 July 2007 @ 12:44 pm
I love flying in small planes but never saw a need to jump out of a perfectly good one :) That said, I might just give it a try as my 40th is in a couple of years.
12 July 2007 @ 3:18 pm
I’ve jumped static 3 times (3 thousand feet, alone, the chute is pulled automatically when you leave the plane) and once tandem from 9k.
Its a great feeling! Scuba is a lot of fun too, but if you are prone to sea sickness, take dramamine.