Anyone here ever been skydiving?

[bigrash]

My friends are going next week and they want me to go with them too. I always wanted to do it, but now that they asked, I'm not so sure.

 

[Harvey]

I went skydiving once... for the last time. I'll never do it again. I learned why people sky dive. It's for the rush, and once I knew the chute was deployed, it was great.

I've also stood up on stage, in front of several thousand people, just me, my partner, our instruments, and enough mics to cover the act. When you nail the tunes and get a strong reaction from an audience, it's exactly the same rush, and if you blow it, you can die just as bad, except that it's only a spiritual death.

What I learned is, you never have to put your physical body in jepardy for the rush. There are plenty of other things you can do that don't tend to kill you if something goes wrong. At several thousand feet, gravity is not your friend.

 

[raptor13]

Contrary to what Harvey says, there is nothing quite like falling out of an airplane. I've done it. It's amazing. I suggest you go.



Just make sure to bring extra underwear.

 

[bigrash]

now I'm really not sure. can't you guys be one-sided?

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: raptor13
Contrary to what Harvey says, there is nothing quite like falling out of an airplane.

Have you ever performed solo, or in a small group, in front of thousands of people? I've done both. The rush is outrageous, and about as strong, either way. The main difference is the result if you crash. :Q

 

[bigrash]

Originally posted by: Harvey

Originally posted by: raptor13
Contrary to what Harvey says, there is nothing quite like falling out of an airplane.

Have you ever performed solo, or in a small group, in front of thousands of people? I've done both. The rush is outrageous, and about as strong, either way. The main difference is the result if you crash. :Q

You're probably right about the rush. The only thing is that I'm not a performer, so chance is that I'll never perform on stage.

 

[MazerRackham]

I went skydiving about 8 years ago now, and I can still remember everything very vividly... one of the most exciting things I've done in my life!

It is dangerous, but so is getting in a car and driving to the grocery store. It all depends on how you look at it.

I am thinking of doing it again soon, before I get too old! (I'm 28 now). Anyway, if you go with good friends you'll have a blast. Trust me.

I mean, how often do you hear of people's parachute's not opening? Sure it happens, but compared to the number of people that skydive each year I'm sure the percentages are higher that you'll be abducted by aliens!

 

[raptor13]

Have you ever performed solo, or in a small group, in front of thousands of people? I've done both. The rush is outrageous, and about as strong, either way. The main difference is the result if you crash.

As a matter of fact, I have! I've done a fair amount of public speaking in my day (all 19 years of it). The biggest group I've spoken in front of was all the kids and parents at my Freshman orientation for college. The speaker they had planned was late arriving so the emcee was like, "Anyone have anything funny they can do on stage?" I had just written a speech entitled "How to Win A Conversation" which I proceeded to deliver in front of some 800 people. It went over very well, got all the laughs I thought it should, and it was quite a rush.

But it wasn't skydiving.

There's something to be said for falling through the sky at over 100mph for over a minute at a time. And then, when the chute is open, the feeling of absolute freedom as you look around you, surrounded by nothing, is just incredible. It's almost undescribable. It truly is an experience. I have to say, though, it is a little disconcerting at first looking down (this is after the chute is open) and you see your feet dangling there. And then you look farther down and you see the ground. And there's nothing between your shoes and the ground but some air. But man is it ever cool.

Harvey is right about the rush, though. Doing anything that really gets your adrenelin pumping is going to give you a rush. But what performing for a large audience lacks is the physical aspect of the rush. In my opinion, the danger involved adds to the thrill. I'm a big fan of walking to the edge, looking down, and walking back. I like to think you have to come close to losing it all to see what is you really have. And no better way of doing that than falling out of a plane. Just do everything you can to make sure you can walk back from the edge.

I say again: I suggest you go.


EDIT: Typo

 

[Evadman]

I went skydiving in college. Scared the ever-loving bejesus out of me. I want to do it again.

If you can, bring a tenis ball. I did. Let it go when you hit teminal velicity.

On your first jump, you are attached to either a static line ( pulls your 'cute 10-20 ft out of the plane ) or you are tethered to your instructor. You will be fine. and trust me, you will enjoy it.

 

[bigrash]

anyone else?