Holy crap, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane today. Kim and I went skydiving today, to celebrate my having lost over 50 lbs.
It started with her friend Enrique, who had suggested it. Kim asked if I was interested, but I said that I’d looked into it before, but was too heavy and couldn’t go. Kim asked if that was still true with my weight loss, and I replied I wasn’t sure. She checked, and when we realized that I was within a few pounds of the limit, we decided that it’d be a great way to mark over 50 lbs of weight loss. The trip was booked, and I tried to make sure I’d go from a little over the limit to well under. This last week was tough, with work travel, and I weighed in this morning at just 2 lbs under the limit. Of course, that was naked in my bathroom, on my scales. When we checked in, their scales read 4-5 lbs over, and they weren’t going to let me jump. Dissapointed. Then, the girl suggested moving the scales to the porch, where I magically lost a couple lbs, but was still (just) over the limit. My clothes were mentioned, and to Kim’s great shock, I was soon in my boxer briefs, and made the cutoff!
After a long wait, we were suited up and boarded the small-ish airplane. I’d been nervous, but as we rode the plane up my nervousness morphed into complete and total fear. I’m not ashamed to say I can think of few things I’ve done that scared me as much as jumping out of an airplane. I was truly, truly, truly scared.
As the plane climbed to 12,500 feet, I watched the houses and roads get tiny, and I honestly considered telling them I didn’t want to do it.
After what felt like about a 7.5 hour flight, but I’m told was less than <15 minutes, the plane arrived at the jump zone. One solo jumper went first, then it was me. As my instructor and I slid towards the door, I was terrified. We rocked in the doorway, and soon I was stepping out of an open door, 12,500 feet above the ground, and rocketing to 120 MPH. Holy Crap.
Freefall was interesting. The physical sensation is not really what I expected. It was fast, and loud with wind noise, but somehow calmer than I expected.
After a 50 second freefall, we pulled the chute, and had 7-8 minutes of flying down. It was cool, and I enjoyed it. Made me want to try paragliding.
I could see Kim off to the side. Her instructor was taking her through a crazy series of moves, spins and such.
Before long, the ground was getting close, and we touched down.
I don’t think this experience will turn me “into a skydiver”, where it’d be a regular hobby of mine, but I enjoyed it and would be interested to try it again since I think I could be more relaxed on the next time…
Hi Geoff,
Congratulations to you on the incredible weight loss. I’m so sorry I didn’t get a chance to say more than a hello at the wedding. My mind was in 1 million places and as of now, I’m just so glad that it is all over. That was some serious stress. I had fun, but it was tough.
I got chills reading your story about skydiving. I’m not an adventurer like that, although if push came to shove I think I could get myself to jump out of plane. Maybe. Ok, only if the plane engine was on fire, there was bomb counting down, and staying on the plane would mean certain death. You two are the coolest couple. Sid and I go to football games. You guys jump out of planes.
I’m sorry to hear about the family losses. I know you both are close to family and I hope that everyone is coping well.
Kim in Vietnam? How awesome…back to the motherland! Well…sort of. I need to make a trip to Cambodia soon, but taking 2 weeks off is tough for me. I can never accrue enough vacation time. I’m always using a day here, there…and then I’m back to zero.
I’m glad to have some time to read your adventures. It’s good to hear from you.
Peuv