#1 - Go Skydiving

Intense. Thats the word I would use to talk about what its like to skydiving. Today I jumped out of a plane on purpose and it was amazing.

For those of you wondering what an experience like this is like let me explain. When I was looking out of the plane door about to jump out I'm sure I had the same thought that everyone has the first time they jump, "Am I really doing this". And then a second later I was out of the plane.

The first thing I noticed was how very cold and windy it was while falling. I guess I should have expected that what with the high atmosphere and terminal velocity. But where your jumping out of a plane the rational part of your brain pretty much turns itself off. Now I'm sure your all wondering, "So how insane is that freefall". Well actually the feeling of freefalling you get in your stomach lasted only a few seconds then all I really noticed was the cold and the wind. I know it sounds weird but it makes sense. Since there is nothing around you its not really possible for your mind to comprehend how fast your going. Sure the ground is coming at your face at terminal velocity but your so high up that it appears as though your not moving at all. So you really do get that feeling that you are floating in the air.

When we got to a certain altitude the guy I was attached to gave me a signal and I reached behind us and pulled the chute open. A second or two later there was a hit when the chute caught the wind. After the chute deployed he started adjusting things behind my back. For a second I thought he was going to unhook me and I was going to fall to my death. But he was just adjusting the harness so that instead of the pressure being on my crotch region it was moved to under my thighs which is much more comfortable.

So after I was in this new comfortable position he let me control the chute itself. He had me turn us a few times and then we did a few circles. And then finally we landed safe and sound. The whole thing was quite an exciting experience. Now that I know I can survive the experience I would love to do it again hopefully with more people.

And for those of you that maybe afraid of heights let me just say that my girlfriend did it and she is terrified of heights. So I believe if she can do it pretty much anyone can.

Also if you would like to do this yourself you should probably check out Skydive Elsinore. I did a bit of research and they seem to be the best ones. Of course this is only useful if you happen to live near or around Southern California. Otherwise you will have to do your own research.