BootsnAll Travel Community

where in teh world is it a 'big' thing? there's a skydiving company not too far from here in snohomish, and it costs $200. or maybe it was $400.. i can't really remember. does it usually cost around that much in other places? oooh sounds fun.

Here it costs about $150 per jump. A little bit more if you want to do it on your own but you have to take a 6 hour class.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the static line jump. I've gone through the 6 hours of instruction and the jump was fabulous!! I've never been so scared $hitless in my life and i loved every minute. They took an old 3 seater plane and ripped all seats out except the pilots and 5 people went up and it is up to you to make yourself jump out. It was several years ago now that i went however i think it was $200. The going rate in MN / WI right now is $250. The downfall is you can't always jump when scheduled if it is too windy.

In Oregon, it's about $150 and, in less than one hour, you will be connected to a person jumping out of a plane. I did a free fall for close to a minute before my partner pulled the shoot. I think the biggest rush is that first few seconds of being air bourne. I would highly recommend it.

Donovan

as a first timer, if you want the biggest adrenalin rush do a tandem jump.

as Donovan said, in an hour you can be strapped to someone just about to jump. with static line and AFF there is some traing and a test. It was proberbly more scary for me when i did my first AFF (you dont really jump by your self, there are 2 people holding on to you falling with you, making sure nothing goes wrong and will pull your shute if you forget).

However with tandem, there is not much to think about except - HOLY CRAP IM ABOUT TO JUMP OUT OF A PERFICLY GOOD PLANE.

Did a tandem jump last year. Cost something like £200 but was worth every penny. You've never experienced anything like this, you're not fretting about whether you've had to do anything right coz you're strapped to someone who knows what they're doing - just along for the ride. If/when you jump, ask the instructor to turn you to face the plane as you jump out. At 12,000ft you've no reference point for the speed at which you fall. If you look back at the plane then you'll get a good idea. Hell, I wanna do it again just by talking about it

elv

yeah!! skydiving, for me, is liek one of those things that you know would be the ultimate rush but you don't know if you're gonna chicken out last minute or not. yeah i was looking into doing a tandem jump but actually.. i'd much rather save the $200 for spain. maybe they'll have cheaper skydiving there too! lol

I did an Advanced Freefall course in Australia. I think it was about 300 Aussie dollars 5 years ago.

It was so amazing! I jumped before sunset, where the clouds were starting to turn colors.

I highly recommend it!

Renae Lee: I heard that static line used to be the most dangerous type of jump. Could be different these days though.

I've done it in Australia over a city, and in Cali, over a desert. Both locations were amazing but over the desert was probably better. After the chute pops and your hanging there with a view to heaven and back and absolute silence... it can't be described.
I had a camera man shoot my first jump, mainly in case I never went again, but also because he might be able to dive in and save me if I messed up - like you see on those reality shows :-)
The funniest part of the video is him coming in to shake my hand during freefall, and me being so hyped up that I don't let his hand go, and he starts trying to shake me loose. Hahahahaha!

Borderland......It felt very dangerous however, the excitement mixed with the extreme trepidation was WELL worth it. My only problem was that I couldn’t readily reach the toggles and I was trying to literally jump freefalling trying to reach them. I must have shorter arms than the standard chick. Wasn’t that feeling afterwards just glorious? I’m sitting in my cube trying to relinquish it.

It is incredible. You feel high on yourself for doing it. High on the world for being so beautiful. And it makes you glad to be alive.

Another weird thing was that I never felt a falling sensation except for the initial jump. I don't like amusement park rides because of the way your stomach comes up in your mouth when you drop, so I don't do them. But with skydiving it felt like I was standing in a strong wind tunnel.

Xoom
I know what you mean by thinking that you might chicken out. I was in great spirits on my jump: chatty, smiling, couldn't wait to jump out. Was last off the plane, stepped up to the door and thought "fu*k that is a long way down" and thought about not jumping but by that time my instructor had already rocked back once and shouted "Go!!" Being strapped to him, I had little choice.

Borderland, you're absolutely right - there is no stomach churning, fairground ride type thrill -just a mad rush of noise and air for about 50 secs, a fwhuup and then absolute silence. First thing my instructor said to me afterwards was "welcome to my office - this is my job" Just an incredible experience. Bungee next

elv

Oh yeah! It's amazing! I feel like going right now! I did what I call an "X-jump" or sky diving on ecstasy my first time and couldn't sleep at night for about a week after!

its amazing! I did it in Cape Town..don't think it could have been prettier. And about chickening out...you don't have time to think about it! As long as you get in the plane (which you will bc it doesn't get scary till youre in the plane) but once youre in the plane you don't have much of a choice! DO IT!!

We did sky diving for charity about two years ago and it cost £240 do it

I had always thought skydiving would be great, and I've never been afraid to do it. But a good friend of mine did it a few years ago and I went out to the field to cheer her on, but the air currents once the chute opened and she swayed back and forth caused her to become incredibly nauseous, she threw up on the guy she was strapped onto, and she was miserable for a good 2 hours after the experience.

That pretty much nixed my idea to go skydiving. I have the weakest stomach ever (I can feel nauseous in a car), and that would totally ruin the experience for me. Plus, I don't have to 'prove' I can do it, because I know I'd be able to!

I'll have to stick to rock-climbing.

Lynn

I think you'll be surprised. There isn't a stomach churning feeling - there's way too much fear (see adrenaline) for that and as at 12,000ft there is no real point of reference, you only feel the sense of speed (deceleration really) when the chute opens. after that the silence is just amazing. You've had your hearing pummelled for 50 seconds by wind roar and then......... nothing. After I had a couple of seconds to take it all in, the instructor said to me, quite calmly 'Elvie - welcome to my office' I remember it like it was yesterday. Just a fantastic experience. Can't praise it enough.

elv

I just wanted to give more possitive feedback to the idea of skydiving. It cost me around 150 to go and was so worth it. I went tandeum and I got to pull the rip cord and steer us to the landing. I thought it was cool that I was invovled and not just "along for the ride". But the upward jerk when the shute opens hurt so much. I had bruises on my thighs from where the harness pulled into me.

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i'd much rather save the $200 for spain. maybe they'll have cheaper skydiving there too! lol

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One word: Empuriabrava. One of the biggest drop zones in Europe with some of the world's best skydivers. Personally, I have never jumped there, but many of my friend's have.

Go tandem, get video.

To be honest, static line isn't really worth it unless you have no other options available and you want to take it up and get a licence. If you want to take it up, if you can, do AFF (Accelerated Freefall).

Sky Annie - give me your perspective and wisdom on the skydiving thing. If I'm prone to nausea when going around sharp bends while being a passenger in a car, and I can't even handle most amusement park rides, would I actually be able to handle skydiving?? Without puking??