The Truth about Skydiving

Some people might call me a sort of “adrenaline junkie.” And perhaps, in a way, that is accurate. After all, I have done some stupid things: participating in a “polar bear” plunge, riding that terrifying roller coaster that plummets you off the edge of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, and Skydiving in Canyonlands a couple weekends ago on our family Moab trip. However, I would argue that the difference between me and a *true* adrenaline junkie is is that I haven’t done these things for “thrills.” In fact, most of the time I do these silly things just because I feel like it.

Skydiving, though, was a little different. It has been something I have wanted to do for a really long time. The problem was that I didn’t want to go skydiving alone. I mean, I realized that some instructor would be strapped to my back, so I wouldn’t *technically* be alone, but I wanted to have someone with me. Even if we had to jump separately and fall thousands of feet apart. It’s the thought that counts, right??

Apparently, not everyone wants to take a leap to their potential doom. I had the hardest time finding someone who was willing to leap out of an airplane with me! I asked and asked, but with no luck. About five years ago, I asked my sister Aly if she would go skydiving with me. She was not old enough at the time, but I reasoned if I could ask her BEFORE I left on my eighteen-month mission to Omaha, Nebraska, she would have at least a year-and-a-half to psyche herself up for it. And originally, it seemed like that plan would work. She said yes, and I happily left and came back eighteen months later. When I started working and was close to having enough money, I asked her if she was ready. It turns out that she had thought I was kidding; and in the time I had been hoping she would get psyched UP, she instead psyched herself OUT. To make a long story short, she said no, and I was again left without an exit buddy.

At that point, I pretty much gave up on skydiving, and figured it would be something that I would never get the chance to do. Then one day, my little brother approached me and asked if we could go skydiving when he turned 18. Of COURSE I said yes, and we made the plans. Eventually, we found a deal for a Canyonlands skydiving experience, and we booked our trip—Even Aly had finally decided that she would join us. My family goes to Moab every year, so it was super convenient. Not to mention that we would be over Canyonlands!! Talk about a beautiful view!!

Skydiving was not at all what I was expecting. The worst part was actually the paperwork and “motivational” video the company has you watch as you wait your turn. We got to the Skydive Canyonlands company, and they handed us a huge stack of papers, which we had to sign and initial several hundred times after every paragraph, which outlined a different thing that could go wrong, and how we could possibly die from this sport we were participating in. The video wasn’t much better. It told us repeatedly that “Skydiving depends on the PERFECT plane, the PERFECT diver, the PERFECT parachute, and the PERFECT weather conditions…none of which we can guarantee.” Basically another hopeful message of death and carnage.

But finally, FINALLY! We had a chance to go. And like I said before, skydiving was not at all what I was expecting. And in talking to my siblings, it wasn’t what they were expecting either. So what I really wanted to focus on today is the truth of skydiving. From my own, personal, recent experience, here are the myths and truths of skydiving.

Myth #1: “I would be so scared, they would have to push me out of the plane!”

The truth: Well, actually, yes. The tandem instructors DO push you out of the plane. Or, if you are doing a back-flip out of the plane, they actually PULL you out of the plane. HOWEVER, the reason they do so is because they know the safest and best time to leap, and they are really the one in control of the fall. Plus, you have about fifteen minutes to decide whether you are really committed to this jump as your plane gets up to altitude. You can talk to your tandem instructor during that time and if you don’t want to jump, they will absolutely respect your wishes. If nothing else, the plane ride is pretty spectacular.

Myth #2: “I just hate putting my trust in a parachute. I KNOW it isn’t going to work properly.”

The truth: Obviously, things go wrong sometimes. But it isn’t some random Joe packing up parachutes and stuffing them into the backpacks; I asked my skydiving instructor how long it took him to learn to fold his parachute, and he told me about a month of full-time training. And not only that, but the back-up parachutes are professionally packed. It isn’t like the company is trying to kill people off; after all, the tandem instructor probably doesn’t want to die, either.

Myth #3: “Skydiving, huh? What a rush!”

The truth: Actually… not really. Usually your body tends to freak out when you are about to do something stupid or scary: butterflies, etc. However, when you are up in an airplane, your body has nothing to judge the distance by. Sure, you can see tiny roads below, but for the most part, there is nothing that you can identify  and think “That is a pickup truck. And so small! I probably shouldn’t be jumping out of this thing if that truck is so tiny.” The only time my stomach gave a small leap was when the tandem instructor opened up the plane door right before we jumped. And even then, it was only because of the blast of cold air and my brain protesting “Hey! Is he supposed to do that?” My rational mind simply realized that airplanes aren’t meant to have open doors while cruising 14,000 feet above the ground.

Myth #4: “Man, I want to skydive and feel like I am flying!”

The truth: I was guilty of this one. One of the main reasons I wanted to skydive is because as a child, I used to have intense dreams being Peter Pan (yes, I am obsessed). Ever since then, I have wanted to recreate that flying experience in reality. Skydiving was not the flight experience I imagined it would be. Really, as you drop it is like being blasted in a wind tunnel. Or at least, that is what I felt. Once the parachute deploys, the feeling is much closer to how I imagined flying; but you are stuck in a standing position at that point, and less free than flying should be.

Myth #5: “It looks like that parachute hurts when it deploys!”

The truth: I was also guilty of thinking this. However, the parachute deploying was a lot of fun! It reminds me of what my family refers to as “thrill bumps.” Thrill bumps are those little bumps in the road that, if you are going fast enough, give you butterflies. That was very similar to the parachute deploying. It made me laugh. Probably making my instructor quite confused.

And finally, Myth #6: “Tons of people die from skydiving!”

The truth: Okay, to be honest, I don’t know an exact number of skydiving deaths per year, or any numbers like that. But if THAT many people were dying, there would be fewer tandem instructors, and very few skydiving companies. My little brother checked out statistics, and found that we were more likely to walk underneath a palm tree and get hit on the head by a coconut, or get eaten by a shark in the ocean than die while skydiving.

Skydiving wasn’t a thrill, and it wasn’t what I was expecting. But it WAS an incredible experience, and I learned a lot about myself and about what is important to me. Skydiving did shift my perspective; I realized some of the important things in life to me, and am trying to make my experience worth it.