ABerry83

Dude, I JUST flew down there this past weekend for the same exact thing you're wanting to do! It was so worth it. I did 15 my first day, and a 30 the next, had a big break and did another 15....that's an hour total over two days. Boy was I sore on the third day. I'm sure others here will tell you that you need breaks (trust me, you do), listen to them! I only have 8 jumps total as I'm still on my AFF, but decided to do tunnel time because my instructors recommended it and I was failing L3 like 4 times cause of my arch and failure to maintain a heading. The tunnel helped me tremendously! The key is finding a good coach...don't just get the tunnel time, get a coach too. Call and ask for Peter...he's awesome and really patient. If you just aren't getting something, he'll stick with you until you do but still make the most out of your time in the tunnel. I'm actually really pumped about going to the dropzone this weekend to put my hour in the tunnel to good practice in the sky! Feel free to PM me with any specific questions...

I'll partially agree here...FB chat is glitchy. Especially if you frequently go back and forth from a mobile device and the main website. Sometimes it takes me "online" when I tell it to stay offline. Also, if I hide people's status updates from the News Feed, I still have to put up with seeing them from my iPhone. Yes, FB does suck to some degree...but other than that I LOVE IT!

I'm on my L3 AFF...but on my 6th jump cause of failing a few levels ...when I think about jumping out all by myself, it kinda freaks me out a bit...ok A LOT! I guess that's what the training is for, but I can still see myself paying for several coached jumps for a while until I feel confident and in-control out there.

Skydive Alabama is totally legit and has NOTHING to do with the nasty business practices happening over at Skyride. I did LOTS of asking around before I began my AFF there and I can say they are an amazing DZ...nuff said . Sorry you got taken though...that sucks, hope you get your money back!!!

haha, that's funny. I still have some problems with it, but it keeps getting better for me each jump. With only 4 AFF jumps, I've got quite a few more to go ! I remember on my first L2 jump, it seemed like my legs were rubber and weighed 500 lbs. each as I was told to slide over to the door...I never said anything about it to anyone, and my exit was still great, but it wasn't easy getting to the door that day! Two jumps later, I was more than happy to go to the door and jump out....strange huh?

Thanks SkyMama! I have to keep that schedule just until May when classes let out and I drop some other stuff that I've got going on. I'll still be working on the phd for another year, but the summer will allow me to make a lot of progress on it before the next school year starts up and I have to start teaching again. It's encouraging for me to remind myself that when May comes, I finally have something more exciting to look forward to than just a ton of free time....I can look forward to skydiving with all that free time!!! Stay at the dz on weekends, MAYBE attend my first boogie ...this sport has so many exciting offerings that I have yet to experience. All in good time...think it sounds realistic?

Haha, nice way of putting it ! For me it is not just the excitement, the risk, the adrenaline, or the thrill...those are all part of it, but mainly it is the rare and unique opportunity to appreciate the "grandness" of the sky and Earth from a perspective that so few are able or willing to experience. The plane ride up, looking at the ground from thousands of feet up without the barrier of a door separating me from an amazing view...sure you could get this from becoming a pilot, but it's a whole other thing to jump out and soak it all in freefalling among the clouds. I just don't think there are words to explain it, it means so much more to me than just jumping out of planes. Then there's the challenge: on my second jump I really started questioning if I should be doing this or not...I mean, it's not the safest way to spend a weekend. That's when I found another aspect of the sport that drew me in...skydiving allowed me to challenge myself in a physical capacity and quite literally step out of the plane and face my fears (of landing). I'm so use to "perfection" in my career and everyday life, that it was a total frustration to find something that truly kicked my butt. Skydiving is a physical AND mental sport...not being very physical, it's a healthy thing for me to do in addition to the opportunity to learning how to overcome my fears of landing and discovery of a whole new challenge that exists in honing skills that I have a goal of SLOWLY mastering in time. There's even so much more to it than that...I've only just scratched the surface. Skydiving offers SO MUCH that many sports do not...you have RW, swooping, freefly, etc...the possibilities seem endless and exciting! I see the interesting people that are at the dz and encouraging dz staff and that is another aspect that has drawn me in. Even the people on these forums and the passion that they share in a way that not many people really will ever understand, yet experience in their life. The real question is...what does skydiving mean to you!

I think you should give it another try. My second AFF jump (L2) was the scariest experience for me so far. I never relaxed, kept worrying, kept thinking and rethinking, just felt "off" in some way...and guess what, my jump didn't go so hot and I failed my first attempt at L2--even suffered a minor ankle sprain. It took me almost a full week to recover not just physically, but mentally as well. I wrestled with whether or not I should really be jumping out of planes... In the end, I reminded my self WHY I wanted to do this (different for every person) and that if I did quit without completing the training, I would be mad at myself and would never really know if I was capable of becoming a skydiver. So, I decided to continue and fight the fear (mine is landing)...with some much needed support from my instructors and my reluctant decision to just go for it. And you know what...I did just fine on my next jump and even the jump after that (even though I failed that one too )! You've got it in you...

Hey there... I made a tandem 2 years ago, you know...just for a fun-jump, and unexpectedly discovered a sport I couldn't get out of my mind on a daily basis (no joke either). Because of graduate school, I couldn't devote the time I needed to jump regularly and decided to painstakingly wait it out for another couple of years. A year later, I made an observation ride just to get some more "cheap" exposure to the sport...it was a great and healthy interim experience, but was difficult knowing I still had another two or three years to go. Flash forward another year (last month), I decided I could not wait any longer without jumping and decided to JUST do my ground course and AFF L1. What a terrible idea that was, because the rush of excitement came back and before I knew it I had purchased the entire AFF package upfront! So here I am, 4 jumps later... I passed L1, failed L2, then passed L2, then failed L3...haha. Apparently, us humans make time for what we want...I'm a full time assistant professor, part time IT consultant, and full time doctoral student...don't have a clue how I've made the time for this sport already, but it just seems like I find myself jumping in the car and driving 2.5 hours south to the dropzone! Thanks to some folks on these forums, I've found a fantastic DZ in Cullman, AL ... Skydive Alabama where I'm going through my AFF. I feel like I've finally found something that puts some excitement in my weekends!