For someone who, in his very early years, was afraid of standing next to the Gateway Arch and was terrified of getting on the Boblo Boat, I never thought in my wildest dreams I would ever be skydiving. Well, this past Saturday I did just that and all I can is WOW!!! I made the reservation a couple weeks ago and hadn't told a soul about it. I thought for sure I would bow out at the last second so why tell anyone if it wasn't going to happen. There were quite a few crazy thoughts going through my mind for those two weeks. What does 10,000 feet exactly look like while falling? Will I pass out on the jump? Will I soil myself? Will I hurl?I
was originally supposed to jump on Friday but they called me on Wednesday and advised the pilot had personal business so I got pushed to Saturday. Making me wait one more day to think about the jump is all I needed. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well on Friday night. Saturday morning came and I was ready. I had myself psyched up and was ready for my 9:00 AM jump. I got out there feeling pretty good. There was me, a boyfriend/girlfriend combo, and four 20-21 year old fellas also ready to jump.
The instructor, Pete (pictured below), gave us a 15 minute review of what would go down on the jump 
and the positions we would need to remember. The boyfriend/girlfriend combo had an 8:00 AM reservation so they went first. The plane took off and came down shortly thereafter because the fog and low clouds in the area hadn't lifted. With that, we had to wait out the weather a bit. I was all ready for my jump at nine but would have to wait it out. This was all I needed, more time to think about jumping (or not jumping). At about 11:00 AM, the boyfriend/girlfriend combo took off for the skies. Two tandem jumpers were all the plane could hold at one time. About 15 minutes later, you could see the plane and damn it was looking mighty small way up there. I saw the free fall and my heart started p
umping quite fast. Holy shit. The boyfriend/girlfriend combo made it down in one piece and looked pretty giddy on the ground. Next up was the 20-21 year old dudes and I thought for sure one of them would bail at the last second because they were talking some pretty good trash while we were waiting for the fog/clouds to clear. All four made it down in one piece. I'm up!
and the positions we would need to remember. The boyfriend/girlfriend combo had an 8:00 AM reservation so they went first. The plane took off and came down shortly thereafter because the fog and low clouds in the area hadn't lifted. With that, we had to wait out the weather a bit. I was all ready for my jump at nine but would have to wait it out. This was all I needed, more time to think about jumping (or not jumping). At about 11:00 AM, the boyfriend/girlfriend combo took off for the skies. Two tandem jumpers were all the plane could hold at one time. About 15 minutes later, you could see the plane and damn it was looking mighty small way up there. I saw the free fall and my heart started p
umping quite fast. Holy shit. The boyfriend/girlfriend combo made it down in one piece and looked pretty giddy on the ground. Next up was the 20-21 year old dudes and I thought for sure one of them would bail at the last second because they were talking some pretty good trash while we were waiting for the fog/clouds to clear. All four made it down in one piece. I'm up!
With my tough looking purple jump suit (ha, ha), I told myself it was now or never and got into the plane with instructor Pete and an experienced jumper named Cinderella (seriously, that was her name) who was jumping on her own. I sat next to the door with my back to Pete and my knees tucked into my c
hest. I was chomping on my gum pretty good. I surprisingly, however, wasn't as nervous as I was when I was on the ground. It helped also that Pete got me talking about things totally unrelated to the jump. Then it was time to open the door. Now the heart really got going. I had to lift my left leg out onto this small step outside the plane and repeat with the right one. Pete gave a little push and out we went. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! For the two weeks leading up to the jump, I thought for sure I would close my eyes during the free fall but didn't and I must say 120 miles an hour is quite a lot of wind in your face. The free fall was about 30 seconds but it felt much faster and was probably the funnest part of the whole process. Next up is the 
parachute opening. Please open! The parachute opening sounded like a gun going off. I thought you get shot up in the air when the parachute opens but you more or less just kind of put the brakes on. Once that opens, you are floating on air with some great views of the country side. I got to steer the parachute a bit during the drop which was kind of fun. Tug on the left cord and you go left. We did some 360 turns in the air but nothing too crazy. The airport was below and it was time to land. I did a nice butt shag and we made it back to earth. Woooo Hoooo!!!! The amazing part of this is Pete had his portable camera on me the whole time, even during the free fall. You pay a little extra to have it taped and moved to DVD but it was worth every penny. The attached pictures from the dive were actually from the tape they made because I couldn't bring my camera with me. The picture on the ground was right after getting back to earth. Nice shit-ass grin, eh? And of course I couldn't forget the Rob S. two thumbs up salute any chance I could.
That is all.
hest. I was chomping on my gum pretty good. I surprisingly, however, wasn't as nervous as I was when I was on the ground. It helped also that Pete got me talking about things totally unrelated to the jump. Then it was time to open the door. Now the heart really got going. I had to lift my left leg out onto this small step outside the plane and repeat with the right one. Pete gave a little push and out we went. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! For the two weeks leading up to the jump, I thought for sure I would close my eyes during the free fall but didn't and I must say 120 miles an hour is quite a lot of wind in your face. The free fall was about 30 seconds but it felt much faster and was probably the funnest part of the whole process. Next up is the 
parachute opening. Please open! The parachute opening sounded like a gun going off. I thought you get shot up in the air when the parachute opens but you more or less just kind of put the brakes on. Once that opens, you are floating on air with some great views of the country side. I got to steer the parachute a bit during the drop which was kind of fun. Tug on the left cord and you go left. We did some 360 turns in the air but nothing too crazy. The airport was below and it was time to land. I did a nice butt shag and we made it back to earth. Woooo Hoooo!!!! The amazing part of this is Pete had his portable camera on me the whole time, even during the free fall. You pay a little extra to have it taped and moved to DVD but it was worth every penny. The attached pictures from the dive were actually from the tape they made because I couldn't bring my camera with me. The picture on the ground was right after getting back to earth. Nice shit-ass grin, eh? And of course I couldn't forget the Rob S. two thumbs up salute any chance I could.
Trail Head
