Skydiving !!

This has been one of those sports I always wanted to try ... you know what skydiving is right ? as the name suggests sky-diving !! To be specific, you get to the 10000 ft and then let yourself loose ... how is that ?

I got my first shot at skydiving a few weeks back ! Six of us went to "Texas Skydiving Center" in Lexington (about 1 hr drive from Austin) ... Here is a list of all the skydiving centeres around Austin http://www.bluebound.com/States/Texas/sky_diving.htm .. A little advice ... you have to call these skydiving centers up to let them know when you will be coming and the size of the group etc .. so anyway, we reached there and the lady made us all sign the papers saying if we die / get hurt its not their responsibility !!! Thats a little scary for the first timer !!

(some of us)

But anyway, I get into the jumping suit and all set to fly .. fly high .. actually till the time I was on the ground, I was very excited .. not even a touch of fear .. I was really happy that I was going to do something I always wanted to do ...

(me getting in(to) the gear !)

For whatever reason, they decided that 2 - 1 - 2 -1 was the best ordering and unfortunately that 1st 1 was me .. and so I was going up there alone ... Well technically speaking, I was not alone .. what we were going to do was "Tandem Jump" which means that a trainer would be tied to our back (or we would be tied to his front) and he would jump with us ... So, the aircraft arrived and I hopped in with my trainer ..

The plane was in such a bad shape ... It was rumbling, creaking, shaking and everything else possible ... There was so much air and noise of the plane that I could hardly hear my trainer talk .. At one point, I looked down from the window and it looked much more than 10000 ft to me ! When I asked the trainer about it, he took out the altimeter (I guess) and told me that its just 4000 ft !!! that was the first time, a touch of fear zoomed past by me ... still it was ok .. After 10 minutes when we were at 10000ft, my trainer tied himself to my back and opened the door of the plane !! I swear to God , that was soooo scary ... For the first time, such very fast gush of wind hits you & you look down and there is nothing u can hold on to ..nothing ... I started counting to three but before I could reach to three, my trainer gave me a push and that was it .. I was in air ...

I could hardly breathe thru' the nose .. you go down soooo fast that you have to keep your mouth open to let some air in !! But after the first second of free fall, I started enjoying it, I let my hands out and enjoyed the only time I could fly as a bird !!! For the first time, I felt I am not heavy at all !!!

(thats me in air !)

After 40 seconds (yep ! 40 seconds for 5000 ft !! that is fast ... try calculating the speed !!) trainer pulled the plug ! relax ... he pulled the parachute plug ... a sudden jerk and I was pulled 90 degrees and became stand-up vertical ... after that it was about 10 - 15 minutes of sightseeing from air ... looking at everything tinier than an ant ... I wish I had a camera man ! the view was just so lovely !!!

I can just go on and on about how I felt and how nice it was .. but it will never be enough .. you have to experience it for yourself !!!

A few tips for those who want to try it :

1. As I said earlier, call the place up and let them know u r coming
2. Go to that skydiving place as early as you can - especially if u r going as a big group
3. You have an option of professional video being taken of the whole fall !! (of course you have to let them know before hand as what that needs is another guy to jump with you with an videocamera)
4. Eat properly before jumping ...
5. Dont be scared .. what is the worst that can happen ? u will die right ? whats the big deal !! :D