Well, this newbie skydiver has successfully completed her first five jumps! Here’s what they looked like, in a nutshell.
#1 – Tandem at Skydive Miami.
After a Caribbean vacation we decided to go out with a bang and skydive. Going in for a one time thrill I never imagined that I would fall so madly in love with the sport.
#2 – Tandem Progression at Cleveland Parachute Center (now my home DZ).
This time around I knew I was headed down the path of becoming a skydiver. At this point, I wasn’t quite comfortable going it on my own. So with 30 minutes of on-the-ground training, learning hand signals and the importance of altimeter checks, I was strapped to Dan for a free fall from 10,500 and deployed my own ‘chute. At that moment I was hooked!
(Unfortunately, no photos of this jump.)
#3 – AFF #1 at Cleveland Parachute Center.
After 5 hours of one-on-one training on the ground I went up with my own parachute. My nerves got the best of me and the free fall didn’t go as smoothly as we’d all hoped. An instructor was lost along the way but I still managed to pull at 5,500 and steer the canopy in for a soft landing. This was a big learning jump for me, and I figure, what a better time to make mistakes to learn from? After all, I’ve got two instructors right there to help me with the necessary corrections.
#4 – AFF #2 at Cleveland Parachute Center.
I was determined to have a near perfect skydive this time. So I came back to the drop zone the next morning and was the first jump of the day. Success! My nerves were calmed as I knew what to expect this time around and overall the skydive felt great.
#5 – AFF #3 at Cleveland Parachute Center.
This weekend I headed out for another early morning skydive. It was cold in the sky, very cold. So I donned gloves and a hooded sweatshirt under my jumpsuit. This time we performed team turns. I felt much more aware of my leg positioning and even got a couple thumbs up in free fall. Tried to squeeze in another jump later in the day but life got in the way and time ran short.
I’ll be back though, next weekend. You can count on that.
Blue Skies!
Ashley