I spent the past 10 days jumping out of a plane in San Diego.
I didn’t do any tandem jumps. Nor have I in the past, nor do I ever want to.
I took a First Jump Course at SkydiveSanDiego, and had my AFF level 7 and was doing solo dives 2 days later. I had planned on getting my A-License (allowing you to leave the plane with other people who aren’t instructors), but got rained out for my last 2 days, I only needed 1 more jump. I plan to get it in about a month.
My goal is to get 100 skydives by mid October 2011, which should be no problem. Then I can jump off the bridge at bridge day 2011…
If I somehow manage to get 150 skydives by mid april, 2011… I plan on buying a BASE jumping rig and taking the BFJC in twin falls Idaho. That’s a pretty aggressive timeline, but bridgeday2011 is definitely going to happen.
Anyway, skydiving is fucking awesome and I can’t wait to go back.
Also, anyone thinking about doing a tandem… don’t do it. Cough up the extra time and money and start taking your AFF jumps.
You can get solo certified in 2 or 3 days if you’re dedicated. The cost for the first jump is 330 or so, and the rest of the course is typically around 1000, including gear rental. Once you pass that, you can jump out of a plane all alone. Freeflying is the most awesome thing ever.
Since you need to have 100+ jumps to go w/ a camera, I don’t have many interesting pictures or video, but expect some BASE pics in the next year or so…
We need to discuss this. This is definitely something I’ve been wanting to do.
I had a friend in Hawaii that was crazy about skydiving. It’s nice when you can just pay like $20 for a lift on the tourist planes to go jump on your own.
I’m itching to buy a parachute, but want to wait til I get better, because you can outgrow a basic skydiving canopy pretty quickly… Almost all BASE canopies are the same size, so I plan to jump my own gear on bridgeday…
I have always wanted to go skydiving. Are there any places local that do this? I remember there is an airfield on Clinton Street but I think that was for flying only.
The first time is a thrill but then it seems it would get boring really quick. It seems low yield to me, risky and expensive and for what, so you can watch the ground get bigger?. Just my 2 cents.
It’s seriously so awesome, and there’s actually a LOT of skill, technique and know-how required. I like things like that. Also, I jumped 25 times in 7 days and had not even the slightest itch to stop. I’m planning my next trip now…
Well, you have 2 options. Either wait til spring, or lets take a trip so you can get your AFF certification in jan/feb.
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There are a few things that are not to like. A lot of skydivers are elitist and a little smug (I’ll fit right in, haha). It’s pricey, but BASE jumping isn’t (assuming no legal hassles). And there is a lot of waiting involved (I hate waiting). But overall it’s a really cool, thrilling hobby.
---------- Post added at 02:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------
It also fits in line with my other hobbies nicely. Though rappelling/rope jumping seems pretty uninteresting now.
I plan to get it in about a month.
This is definitely something I’ve been wanting to do.