"Skydiving isn't an extreme sport, it's aviation." That was the first thing Utah said to me after we were introduced. This was my second skydive ever, and second this year. The first jump was awesome. Utah's whole attitude was that you're just learning to fly your body instead of a plane. He emphasized not JUMPING out of the plane but stepping out of it. I've gotta say that I was much less nervous this time, it also helped that no one I went with was calling their family to warn them that they might day. This time was also A LOT faster. Where we jumped has expanded and added a hangar, every instructor is super friendly and it is clear that they LOVE what they are doing.
The whole experience really has me reconsidering my current approach to work: suck it up and grab the cash. Anyways, we showed up at 10 o clock and signed a stack of release forms, basically saying we were willing to die jumping out of a plane 2 miles above the ground. Then we suited up, met our instructors and jumped on the plane by eleven. It was a really hot day, at least 90, but as our altitude increased we escaped the heat and humidity. You could even see where the humidity ended, delineated by a small blue streak under the clouds. Last time we went, I jumped first, this allowed me extra time to play with the parachute and drop into some fun spins, but my free fall was a bit shorter than others and my adrenaline was out of control. For whatever reason I kneeled on the edge, and we basically toppled over into free fall for my first jump. I hardly remember it, but the feeling of surrender was amazing. It really is just too much input for your body to process, and after jumping all resistance goes out of your body, you arch your back and fly. After a minute you pull the chord and your chute snaps back, spreads wide and slows you descent.
This time, for my second jump I was told to leave a bit of tension in my legs, just to hold myself up, but otherwise to be like a ragdoll. I just went limp, so there was no fight, and Utah jumped. He told me to watch the airplane as we exited. The first jump all I saw was the earth approaching us, but it wasn't a very good frame of reference. After jumping, I was impressed by how quickly the plane disappeared from view, and totally immersed in the experience. I forgot to arch, but Utah had said that the whole arching thing doesn't matter, this is about staying loose and enjoying the experience, not cutting yourself off from it with anxiety. He reminded me, then we did some arm turns and leg turns. He had me check the altimeter, we played a bit more then pulled the chute. Being the last person out of the plane sucks as far as parachuting goes. You have a lot more land to cover, so you can't spin et cetera, instead he explained to me how chutes worked and we watched one of the instructors pull some stunts. Under the canopy it is super peaceful. If you flare in mid-air everything becomes silent, the wind slows down and you hear absolutely nothing. We flew for a bit longer, then touched down. He had my lean back as we landed and my feet didn't even touch the ground. Shit was cake just like last time. Coming down was wonderful, but the rest of the day wasn't very exciting, anything we did seemed insubstantial and unimportant, all we could think about was how to get back up into the air.
Go fucking skydive!
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