Why did you get into the sport?

[jfields 0]

Always liked heights. Insisted on airborne training when I enlisted in the Army. After I got out, it took awhile to scrounge the time and money to do it as a civilian. My biggest regret about skydiving is not starting it while I was stationed at Fort Bragg. I'm an idiot!

[HeatherB 0]

Jerm made me do it!
blue skies,
Heather

[hooked 0]

I always wanted to skydive. I wanted to prove to myself I could do it and let everyone else know I wasn't this "quiet" person, everyone thought I was. I thought my first tandem would satisfy that dream. What a fool I was. Now, I am working out how I can afford to continue, and I know I must. Skydiving changes a person, but I didn't know that before.

J

TTK#5

--------------------------------------
Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings.

[VisionAir 0]

Well it starts with a recurring childhood nightmare/dream of falling/jumping from the roof of the house and flying. 20 years or so later add a wife that is in search of a Father's day gift and the result is my first s/l jump. It was supposed to be a one time thing or so she thought, but my addictive personality hooked me instantly.
Comraderie keeps me coming back.

Huh?!? What cloud?!? Oh that!!! That's just Industrial Haze
Alex M.

[skymama 37]

Mid-life crisis. It was just supposed to be one tandem to shake things up a little bit.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[happythoughts 0]

"recurring childhood dream of ...flying. "
I have talked to many, many skydivers who have a dream in which they are flying. Dreams of flying have to do with "escapism". Often, a big monster or other vague threatening figure is chasing you and you just fly away.
The sensation of skydiving/flying links to this emotion in the dream and the feeling of comfort very strongly.

[moodyskydiver 0]

I've always loved plane, the sky flight-related stuff etc. I had dreams of flight like so many others do.While everyone else wanted to bungee, I wanted to really fly, so I thought skydiving was for me. I spent loads of time in my AFROTC Science of Flight classes and came really close to joining the Air Force. But because of a run in with a specific asshole(who later became known as my exfiance) I had the chance to jump and fell in love with it from the time I put the gear on til I hit the ground again.My first words were "that was badass! I gotta do it again!!!" So here I am, almost a year and a completed student course(that my ex said I'd never make it through) later. I still love it. I love the people,the challenge and everything about this sport.

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."

[Scoby 0]

I did a tandem a long time ago, just to say that I'd done it. A couple years later, I decided to do another, on a whim. It was amazing, but I still wasn't ready to go ahead. Anyway, later that year, I went bungee jumping with friends. We decided that skydiving logically would be next on our list. Most of them flaked, of course. My friend Andy and I decided to show them what bitches they were and went anyway. We went through AFF really slowly, just a jump a month. However, once we got through the student stuff, it started becoming much more fun (and it was fun before!). Now I'm just a rig away from jumping all the time.

[Galen 0]

I think my experience is pretty much the same as Hooked's. Still trying to figure out what it going to take to keep me satisfied. That frequency of jumps factored with $$$. I'm getting poor fast.

Respect the Dolphin

[steve1 5]

When I was a kid the thought of jumping out of a plane scared the hell out of me. When I got into high school I read a book about smoke-jumpers and wondered what it would be like. When I got out of High School I went to Alaska and met a lady who skydived in Anchorage. I planned to train there, but ended up fighting fire most of the summer instead. That winter I went into the Army and later went to jump school in Benning. What a Rush! I was hooked from that moment on. I still wondered what freefall was like and finally trained to skydive back in Missoula in about 73. Lucky me! I almost feel sorry for people who don't jump. Steve1

[jlmiracle 7]

I made my first jump, which was AFF Level 1, because I watched the movie Dropzone way too much and my 10yr class reunion was coming up and I felt I had not done anything exciting with my life.

I actually hated my first jump at first, but a friend of mine that also jumped had such a great time I thought I would try it just one more time. Made level 2 and was hooked. Now, 7 years later, I'm still jumping.

It was the best life changing experience of my life. I made my first jump on a Sunday and told my husband (now ex) I was moving out on Tuesday. The dropzone became my happy place and I think I found out what true happiness is.


Judy

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

[hooked 0]

Quote

Mid-life crisis. It was just supposed to be one tandem to shake things up a little bit.

Funny! Yeah, one tandem to shake things up a little. In my case, I don't consider it a mid-life crisis, and you shouldn't, you aren't that old!!! I tell you, I did shake things up a little, my family is still shaking, just thinking that I did it and am talking of pursuing it further. They will never understand.

J

--------------------------------------
Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings.

[hooked 0]

Quote

I think my experience is pretty much the same as Hooked's. Still trying to figure out what it going to take to keep me satisfied. That frequency of jumps factored with $$$. I'm getting poor fast.

Hey, at least you are a student

J

TTK#5

--------------------------------------
Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings.

[pilotdave 0]

Saw a sign on a bathroom door. Tried it. Liked it.

Actually, if you read the article on the main page of dropzone.com about starting a skydiving club, well, thats how I joined. After Lewis (the guy that wrote that article) got the club approved, he put up fliers all over campus, mostly on bathroom doors inside dorms. I saw one, went to the first meeting, and well, now 4 years later I'm the president of the club. Now I'm the one making the fliers. Last weekend we brought about 15 first timers to a CASA boogie. Nice introduction to skydiving huh? Hopefully we got one or 2 of em hooked.

Dave
http://www.umd.edu/studentorg/cpsc

[MGSkyFlyer 0]

I never really got into skydiving, skydiving was always just in me...

[lewmonst 0]

likewise....
i've really just always known i needed to be in the sky.

http://www.exitshot.com

[HeatherB 0]

I'm feeling talkative...

I wasn't one of the people who had always thought about skydiving. My friend Jerm called me in Florida and said "hey, when you come back up for school you should do a tandem!" (He had ten or 15 jumps at that time and I was impressed!!) It sounded like fun and I had the cash so up I went. I wasn't scared at all (oblivious!) and the cute instructor was distracting anyhow

Then I was all up for IAD's too.

My first IAD scared the heck out of me. (and my instructor) My bridle wrapped around my arm as soon as I let go of the strut. So fun! Unintentional Freefall! Jerm ran up to me after I landed and I said "I'm never doing that again!!!" Not knowing what had happened up there at 4 grand he said "your landing wasn't *that* bad!"

I did my second IAD a month later...I was definitely a scared student, but I stuck with it. Took me a while to get through my first 100 jumps but it's been a rather smooth ride!

4 years later (yikes!) I'm still around...Jerm may have twice as many jumps as me, but I plan on catching up some this winter
blue skies,
Heather

[jerm 0]

short version: Too much fun....

Longer version: saw it when i was a kid, parents said it was crazy... forgot about it.

Thought about it near the end of high-school, was too poor... forgot about it. Got offered a decent-paying job mid-way through college, and the same week a buddy called up and told me he'd gone.. oh yeah, i wanted to try that.

I set it up with some people to go to tandems one saturday in august. Thursday i couldn't wait anymore and i drove to the DZ and made the first jump. Under canopy i looked up at my TM and said "where do i sign up?"

Friday i did the FJC, saturday i took heather with me to the DZ (she was the only person in the group who actually went) and did my 2nd tandem and first IAD.

4 years, 873 jumps, 1 broken leg, 1 reserve ride later...... i love this shit.

Really, though, i was just trying to impress HeatherB

Landing without injury is not necessarily evidence that you didn't fuck up... it just means you got away with it this time

[Luna 0]

Well, I never wanted to try it. The thought of jumping out of a plane terrified me. I sent my husband for a SL jump about 8 years ago for his birthday because I knew it was something he wanted to do. Ever since then he has been trying to convince me to go.

Well, I guess he finally figured out that I'd never agree, so he just signed us up for tandems and told me that he had a surprise for me. He did give me hints and I figured it out about 5 days ahead. My first thought was, NO WAY! But the more I thought about it, the more I figured that it would be good for me to overcome this fear. Plus he put so much thought into it, I didn't want to disappoint him.

Well, I loved the tandem, so we waited about 2 months and then went back for AFF. I just completed my 4th AFF jump Saturday, and that was after a cutaway on my 3rd, so yeah, I guess I'm in it for the long haul if that didn't scare me off! Why? It's fun, it's relaxing, the people are awesome, and it's changing me in a lot of very positive ways. Although, I do still ask myself why every time I go up. I guess that'll pass soon enough!

Luna

I'm walking a marathon to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Click Here for more information!

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Quote

So, why did you? And why are you still in it?

Well, uh, I grew up on the DZ so to speak. Kind of hard avoiding the sport if your dad competes, goes to boogies, and runs his own DZ. I have photos of me pulling tension on Cheapos and PC's when I was a wee lad. That being said, my dad was not the type to let me "get over" and start early; neither was Gene Paul Thacker, so at least I am not the only one of my friends that had to wait till 16. But, uh oh, I was not doing well in school (refused to do homework), so I wasn't allowed to start till I was 17 as a sort of "punishment". Barring military deployments and a few other very-pricey hobbies that kept me from jumping as much as I could have, I have been at it for just about 21.6 years now.

Chuck

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[QuickDraw 0]

Me and a friend got to "that" age, (35ish) and decided that we needed a program to follow,
something exciting obviously.
We shook out a few ideas between us, the usual stuff skydiving/ski-ing/scuba-diving etc.. and as i was the "nerd" i started doing some research.
Within a matter of weeks and some heavy e-mail traffic (and lurking the boards) we had more or less all the info we needed and booked in to SD Sebastian last march.
We were only there for a week and didn't complete our AFF (i got to 5 and my friend got to 6) and i have not jumped since, however i can't think of one day that i have not thought about jumping.
Money is has been tight and i have worked all my holidays so i can go to Spain for 4 weeks in December.
So fingers crossed an all i might just be able to post some numbers up.

-- Hope you don't die. --

I'm fucking winning

[skybytch 273]

I did my first jump because it looked like fun. Kept going through 5 static lines because I felt I couldn't say I'd really "skydived" til I pulled my own ripcord (plus, everyone kept saying "just wait til freefall! You're gonna love it"). After that it was all about "I can fly!"

I'm still jumping today because I can fly. That and the people are pretty cool too.