Skydiving Journey

Short post, but finally back in the air... the thing with being an A license is that you need to be smart about when you decide to skydive!! I went to safety day and became current on paper, but when I tried to get current with a coach the winds were bad... then the next couple of times I tried to get current it was the same issue with unpredictable gusts. My drop zone is surrounded by trees so high gusts are not good. While I was playing it smart and staying on the ground some of my friends got themselves hurt with broken bones to start the season. As quoted to me by my wonderful skydiving teachers “it is better to stay on the ground wishing you were in the sky than in the sky wishing you were on the ground.” Stay safe out there!

Oh and a new tattoo to start off the season right!

Yesterday’s conversation before skydive: Dean: So what haven’t you done for your license? Me: two hop and pops and my check dive Dean: we can do your check dive but you still have a few more jumps till you are done and you cannot fail your re-currency Me: sure let’s try it… the worst I can do is have a skydive and not make all of the check dive points… and the best I could have you sign off that I completed my check dive ___ Awesome skydive official dive flow: two practice touches (Dean wanted me to do them because I was doing currency), one dock, check alti, front flip, check alti, front flip again but paused half way because I remembered that was suppose to be a back flip so was on my back, barrel rolled back to belly, check alti, 360 right, check alti, 360 left, check alti, caught a thumbs up from Dean, complete barrel roll, check alti still at 7500, back flip, check atli 7000, decide to lock on early, slight spin into 6000, but waved and pulled…. looked like I was going to have a line twist but didn’t :P…. remembered how sucky the 280 feels when hanging from it (because everyone snagged the lower riggs :( ) then came in for landing…. and stood it up!!!! Major woo hooing and yeah baby’s! from me as I jump up and down.

_____ Dean: I can’t believe you did all of that… and actually now that I am thinking about it, I think I made you do a C license check dive….. either way I am signing off that you did your A license and I will vouch for up to your C license that if you fail you can pass…

So I am here to proclaim that it is ok to be a long time student… this is my third year trying to get my A license. Some of the reasons why it has taken me 3 + (I am going on my 4th year next season) years to achieve something that takes some people 1 month to achieve is: time, weather, health and money.

Time: sometimes you have a jam packed month and you only have a few free days for a student jump. When you are a student, prepare to spend the entire day at the dropzone. This is why you should plan to make a day of it. The reason why you should plan to make a day is because of….

Weather: as a student skydiver you need to jump with perfect weather conditions… you must have minimal clouds because you need to see where you are landing…. see the picture I copied from SIM (Skydiving Information Manual)… also a student should not be skydiving in winds over 14 mph. Remember we are learning how to control our canopy, so you want to learn on lower winds or you might get hurt… which could possibly put you out of commission for a season. Which brings me to my next category…

Health: my second year trying to get my A license I was careless at home and broke my foot via accidentally dropping a bookcase on it and breaking it in 4 different places…. needless to say I was out an entire season and refuse to count that year off as trying… since the only thing I attended was safety day… then there are skydiving accidents that can happen…. I bought my own altimeter and forgot to take it out of the car after one jump which warped the paper (do NOT leave your altimeter in the car for long periods of time… especially if it is hot!!!) So when I was doing my 13th jump I was nervous and my brain never registered that my altimeter was stuck at 9000 ft until I looked at the ground and realized I was really close… by the time I pulled I was still going too fast so my aad fired causing my reserve to come out… now aad’ s are great (do not jump without them because they could save your life if you are ever knocked out) but in situations like this you need to be careful and keep the breaks stowed. Then use small movements to advance your canopy or else it will become unstable… unfortunately for me with these small movements I could not avoid the trees…. so I knew I was going through (when going through trees get small and protect your vitals and face…. if you hit a tree and get stuck, hold onto the tree trunk and wait for someone to come, do not disconnect from the parachute unless the rescue people tell you to do otherwise!!) Fortunately for me I fell through the trees and did a PLF (parachute landing fall) which saved me from breaking anything… unfortunately for me I did have a concussion which took me out of skydiving for 2 weeks (and since it was October…. that season)

Finally money: as much as you would love to just breeze past your student days and become a licensed skydiver… Remember we do have responsibilities and there is no shame in saying I have to pay those doctor bills, I have to replace something at home or I am changing jobs and I want to be certain I have enough money for food, rent and/or other bills….. there is always next year.

Had my first line twist on this jump…. this is when you have a bad body position and when the parachute comes out it twists up. If this happens to you remain calm… take your risers in your hands and pull them apart, then start kicking…. eventually you will have a parachute you can fly

When you are a student skydiver, you can be grounded when all your friends are still flying