Extreme Skydiving

Extreme Skydiving

Ever since high school, my group of friends and I have tried to find ways to outdo each other in any way that we could think of. Every summer since we graduated, we make plans to meet up and take part in a new adventure, which we plan during the winter months. After our rock climbing expedition in 2008, we thought that we could never out do ourselves again, but that was not the case at all. When our pal Jason suggested that we do extreme skydiving, we knew it was just the right type of adventure for us to go on this year. We let Jason take care of the details as we just waited out the last of the winter remnants. 

Before we knew it, it was May again. All of us had been pushed to save up extra money so that we could go party after we hit ground from the extreme skydiving drop. Maybe we were all getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. I mean, none of us really knew what we had in store for us other than the extremity of the sport we were venturing to do. Terry was the first one to inquire as to our obligation to perform some of the types of extreme skydiving trickery that we were seeing in these DVD’s that his cousin had lent him. By the time that everyone in our group had the chance to see the videos, we were all astounded at our prior commitment to take part in this sport. Obviously, these people were experts, and not just a group of high school and college fraternity friends looking for something to cure the boredom of their dreadful jobs and families.

Now, we had a lot of things to think about. Were we really going to try to do any of the things that we had just witnessed? I mean, there was even clips in the video that parodied what we were thinking of doing on a novice level. So either we all lost our lives in doing something that we clearly not trained to do, or we forfeit our yearly trip for the first time ever since high school. After taking a vote, we decided to just do the adventure anyways, because there was no way on Earth that we were going to break our pact that we made at the age of 17. We just will watch the videos and take notes as to how to do extreme skydiving for when we finally get there ourselves.

Extreme Skydiving

Guy takes skydiving to a whole new level.

Duration : 0:1:18

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Extreme Skydiving Video

Bluefunk Freefly Mountain Swoops at Mt Jungfrau in Switzerland

Duration : 0:4:20

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Cheap Skydiving Thrills

Mark Evans Skydiving in Ogden.

Duration : 0:8:0

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Cheap Skydiving - You get what you pay for

The Basics

First, you will need to find a skydiving school with a good reputation.This is a fairly easy thing to do.The internet, phone book, and local airports are full of them.Next, you will need to check your pocket book.Skydiving is one of the more expensive sports to learn.Then, you will need to decide how you want to learn.There are three methods of training: tandem, static line, and Accelerated Free Fall (AFF).All of these methods have their benefits and drawbacks, but we will touch more on those a little later.

What’s First?

Health and Safety.

First, you must consider health and safety.Know the risks involved before you get involved.Skydiving is not chess; you will not be sitting on an uncomfortable concrete bench moving your pieces around a game board.You are going to step out of an airplane and, in freefall, will reach speeds of up to 250 feet per second… that is 110 miles per hour!!If you have a bad ticker, unregulated high blood pressure, or any number of other health problems,

speak to an instructor and discuss your options in detail.Also keep in mind, even the best of the best in this sport sometimes hit the ground a little harder then they intend to.So, bad knees may also be a consideration.DO NOT be afraid or embarrassed to discuss these things with your instructor before making that first jump. It is always preferable to hit the ground safely then to plant yourself in it.Truthfully though, with the proper preparations and instruction you would be more likely to develop cataracts from reading this article then suffer a serious injury from skydiving.Listen to your instructors, know your equipment, and never assume you know how to do something just because you saw it in a movie.

Which Training Method To Use?

Training Methods

As I researched information, I discovered that there are three approved methods of training to become a licensed skydiver, the Tandem jump, the Static jump, and the Accelerated Free Fall (AFF).

Tandem

The tandem jump is the easiest and quickest method to get into the air.With ground training typically lasting about 30 minutes, you will then jump out of an airplane while strapped to the chest of a professional Tandem Instructor. After three or four of these jumps and completion of the approved First Jump Course (ground school), a student may then move on to the next level.

Tandem jumping, however, does provide an opportunity for the adventurous spirit who may not quite meet the physical or proficiency requirements for the static line or accelerated free fall jumps. By relying on tandem instructor’s skills, it may still be possible to experience the extreme thrill of skydiving.

Static Line

Static line skydiving was developed by the military as a safety measure for paratroopers.It is used for instant and reliable deployment of parachutes at a relatively low altitude, about 2000 – 3000 feet.Basically what happens is a specially designed cord is attached to the plane and to your parachute. As you step away from the plane, the cord immediately deploys your parachute for you. No fuss – no muss. After about two of these jumps the student begins demonstrating mock-pulls of a dummy ripcord.After about three of these jumps the student is then ready for their first free fall.

Accelerated Free Fall

This is the way to go for the adrenalin junky out there. Why?You get to free fall from jump one!!Of course this method is a little more expensive due to the fact that you will have two instructors jumping with you, and, although you will be in free fall, the instructors will maintain hands-on contact at all times during free fall.After a few jumps like this, you will begin doing it on your own with a single instructor giving more advice and training.This method will get you your class a license a little faster.

Training Completed!!Really?

After Class

After you have completed 4 to 5 hours of ground school training and have made 25 jumps, you are qualified for a license and can keep going all the way to your D license, requiring 500 jumps.But once you have your license, are you really done?The answer to that question is no.As with any skill, you never learn everything.There is always going to be that next skill level to work towards.New equipment and techniques are being developed every day.So the only thing left to do now is to get started!Have fun and good jumping!

Andrew Caxton
http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/information-on-skydiving-2668.html

Skydiving Video

First Man in Space – Skydiving From The Edge Of The World (Extended Version) // On August 16, 1960, Joseph Kittinger jumped his last … all » Excelsior jump, doing so from an air-thin height of 102,800 feet (31,334 meters). From that nearly 20 miles altitude, his tumble toward terra firma took some 4 minutes and 36 seconds. Exceeding the speed of sound during the fall, Kittinger used a small stabilizing chute before a larger, main parachute opened in the denser atmosphere. He safely touched down in barren New Mexico desert, 13 minutes 45 seconds after he vaulted into the void. The jump set records that still stand today, among them, the highest parachute jump, the longest freefall, and the fastest speed ever attained by a human through the atmosphere. Somewhat in contention is Kittinger’s use of the small parachute for stabilization during his record-setting fall. Roger Eugene Andreyev, a Russian, is touted as holding the world’s free fall record of 80,325 feet (24,483 meters), made on November 1, 1962.

Duration : 0:6:55

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Skydiving Games

Where can i find a Parachute game online or download?
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=698

Funny Skydiving

the 6th “jump” i did in France

Duration : 0:1:8

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Highest Skydive

In 1960 Joseph Kettinger set records that stand nearly 50 years after his feat. His courage rivals Alan Shepard, John Glenn and Chuck Yeager.

Duration : 0:1:49

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