My Amazing Skydiving Experience!

Jumping out of an airplane is not something we fantasize about often. But if you desire to leap through the sky; this is what you are supposed to do! This desire within me had led me to Mehshna, Gujarat for experiencing skydiving.

Determined to experience one of the most thrilling adventure sport, I had registered myself for ‘Skydiving’. Though most of us are well versed with the term, a brief prelude might still be helpful. “Skydiving is a sport involving a skydiver jumping down from an airplane while it is flying and parachuting to the ground.”

In the Base

The Drop Zone (the designated area) for the skydiving was situated in a small airport at Mehshana, Gujarat. My dive was scheduled at around 10 AM and I reached there at around 7 AM. It was a beautiful sunny morning of mid-March. I received a warm welcome from the enthusiastic crew out there. The main instructor was a Russian guy named ‘Cosmo’, a very witty person indeed.

I had to go through some very basic health checkups and some personal queries and had to sign a number of forms taking self-responsibility of potential risks associated with the activity. After a preliminary verbal training session of around 30 minutes, another instructor (an ex-army personal) helped me wear the parachute and other gears and prepared me for the dive.

In the Plane

The airplane has arrived and it’s time to take off. It was a 2-seater small airplane, and me and Cosmo (the instructor) were all set with our diving gears and boarded the plane. The plane took off and reached to a height of around 11,000 feet which took almost 20 minutes and believe me its entirely a different experience than flying in a Boeing.  The pilot then halted the plane up there and slightly tilted it to help us jump conveniently.

It was almost time for the jump! I could not exactly figure out my feeling at that moment except the Goosebumps rise up on my skin. It was windy and the temperature was quite low up there. The sound of the airplane engine roared through the sky. I stared down and I could see the terrain in patches. It was obvious that from an altitude of 11000 feet things aren’t visible!

The Jump and Freefall

Just before the jump my instructor tied me securely to him with a belt. As already instructed at the pre-jump session, I stood at the open door of the airplane in crouching position. My instructor was tied behind me. I was asked to keep my chin up and hands spread open during the jump. After few seconds we jumped out of the plane. It happened so fast that I could not really process my feelings and thoughts at that moment. Neither fear nor nervousness bothered me at that instant!

For few seconds I was almost thoughtless. I could not feel my instructor at my back and I was not even sure if he was still tied to me until he asked me was everything alright. The gravity was pulling me with a great speed, at more than 250 kmph giving me a sinking stomach feeling! I was descending very quickly towards the ground tearing apart the resistance of the wind. 

Gradually I tried to comprehend my sensation and the sights I saw from the sky. I felt completely weightless. I was literally souring through the sky amidst the rush of cold wind; and felt like a free bird flying in the empty sky! Everything looked so tiny yet beautiful. My adrenaline was pumping with utmost force. I was feeling amazing!

Parachuting

The freefall lasted for around 10 seconds covering a distance of around 5000 feet and then the parachute was pulled opened at a height of around 6000 feet. Instantly our falling speed drastically reduced and I felt as if I was being suddenly pulled upwards by something. The initial movement of the parachute was not smooth and it started to revolve around which was really scary and I could not help but close my eyes, yelling at the top of my voice.

After a minute or so the parachute was in control. I could feel the rush of the wind much more at that moment than during the freefall. Gradually everything seemed to be in control. My instructed started talking with me, but the harshness of the wind made our voices faintly audible. We descended in a circular route towards the ground. I was allowed to control the parachute and I realized that controlling it requires a bit of muscle strength along with technical expertise.

The things beneath seems to be growing bigger and the drop zone was visible by then. The magnanimous view mesmerized me! Gradually as we descended further, the buildings and other structure were faintly visible. The parachuting continued for around 10 minutes before we safely landed in the drop zone. The crew rushed towards us, untied us and congratulated me for the triumphant accomplishment!

Conclusion

The exhilarating adventure offered me a sense of victory. The perception of jumping out of an airplane and safely landing in the ground empowered my feelings. The complete sensation of the entire activity is not explainable in words. One has to experience it to know how it feels like to skydive! But to be concise, it is an astounding buck of adrenaline shoot.

So, if you have a yearning desire to do something really daring and exciting; something which tends to offer you a lifetime accomplishment; skydiving is a nice options!

Watch the exciting video below: