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#50. Go Skydiving

Completed September 27, 1998 @ Beiseker, Alberta

I was the fourth to jump from my load. Seth, Jonathan, Brandon, and some stranger were in the plane with the jumpmaster, the pilot, and me. I got rather nauseous in the plane so I was glad to jump out of the thing!

Actually a funny thing while jumping out of the plane...  After Mike (my jumpmaster) checked my chute and said all was well, I crawled out of the door and clambered out onto the strut of the plane and held on (basically flying like superman) awaiting instructions, Mike gave the go ahead and I yelled "Hi Mom" to the camera on the right then looked at Mike for the thumbs up, got it then as instructed I looked up at the bottom of the wing and looked for the 'dot' that I was told would be there.  As soon as I see the dot I am to yell dot and let go of the strut, but there was no dot on the wing.  I must have spent a while looking for the dot before I finally gave up and yelled dot anyway and let go. 

The jump itself was terrific. I totally forgot to count before checking my chute, I was understandably frantic.  Loads of fun maneuvering the chute to where I was supposed to land. My landing was OK, the chute caught air after I landed on my feet and pulled me over before I could bunch it up.  I couldn't afford the video so... no live shots for y'all.  I highly recommend doing it once, easily addicting though, so be careful. 

The six-hour training and the one jump (from 3500 feet) cost $64.20 (can) including GST (it was so cheap because we were a large group).

I did get permission to use photos and such from the Skydive Ranch.

Skydive Ranch" - from e-mail Dec 17, 1998

Here are a couple pictures of the crew: (Click on the images for larger pictures)

one of my buddies is excited

my crew before the jump

my crew after the jump

a break during training

This was my JumpMaster:

Mike Soboren: Chief Instructor
with 7 years in the sport with over 1300 jumps, Mike is the drop zone chief instructor overseeing the First Jump training programs. Mike also holds a CAPS and USPA 'D' licence, FAA Senior Rigger, and a CAPS Instructor/Examiner rating. As well, Mike is a Director for the Canadian Associates of Professional Skydivers (C.A.P.S.).

This was my classroom:

It was an extraordinarily long training session, mercy!  Plenty of video clips and lots of "one-onethousand, two-onethousand, three-onethousand, four-onethousand, five-onethousand shoulder check"

Undeniable proof that I actually paid and went: