Why do you do it

[selbbub78 0]

the question isn't WHY we skydive, it's why people DON'T skydive? Everyone has GOT to do it at least once! The door is open, so JUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Women fake orgasms - men fake whole relationships" – Sharon Stone
"The world is my dropzone" (wise crewdog quote)
"The light dims, until full darkness pierces into the world."-KDM

[12500ft 2]

I have a weblog and just yesterday, I was journaling about the same issue. Here is the excerpt. The people that read that don't skydive, so some of it's pretty simplistic, but here's my answer.

Back Flips Through Heaven

I've written about it before, but I have an obsession. I can't stop thinking about it, I can't stop feeling about it and I can't stop wanting to be doing it all the time. Not many people can say that they've done backflips through heaven.

I continue to have trouble with flying my canopy and landing smoothly. I love to freefall. I love the feeling of being unteathered and irresponsible with gravity. Up in the air, regardless of who is with you, you are ultimately alone...you are, in the final analysis, repsonsbile for yourself. Even if you are a student, no one else can save you, it is, by nature and necessity, a selfish sport. Each jump is all about you. As long as you are aware of where other people and planes are, you can do whatever you want for 50 seconds with no thought to the consequences, because regardless, it's too late. You can't will yourself back into that plane, and shy of not pulling there isn't a damn thing you can do about it, so no amount of stressing out about the consequences is going to change them. It is 50 second of care free.

Canopy flight is another story. As soon as I pull that pilot chute and watch my canopy open, I start to get anxious. I'm going to have to deal with the consquences of jumping out of that plane very soon. Am I close enough to the landing area? Watch, make sure you don't cross over the runway at under 1,000 feet. Do you know where the other canopies are? What's your landing pattern going to be? Can you make it standing up? DON'T HIT ANYTHING!

Yin and yang. Release and constraint. The flips side, the yin and yang to the aforementioned yin and yang is that while all you can hear in freefall is the wind rushing into your ears at 170 miles per hour, all you hear under canopy is the gentle flutter of your slider above your head. Freefall is disorienting. Canopy rides are reorientating. Freefall is intense and in some ways, if you can clear your mind, canopy rides are the place where you will find the most peace. You are still very much alone and responsible for yourself, but now, with no wind slamming into your face, you can lean back in your harness and notice that the sun is turning Long's Peak into an orange firework as it sets behind it. You have the unique opportunity to notice that when they built Roger's road, someone couldn't draw a straight line. Occassionally, you will hear the distinctive "pop" of another canopy opening near by, but for the most part, you are flying solo in the sky.

Yin and yang in their most complex manifestations. I told this to a jump master who told me I almost had it right. He took a minute to compose his thoughts to correct me where I was wrong. Then, he stopped, he looked at me and said, "No, I'm wrong. You're EXACTLY right." Perhaps this dichotomy is why I love it so much. Why, even on days when I don't FEEL like jumping I jump, because something in my blood says that I don't have a choice and it will mutany me and leave on that plane regardless of whether or not I go.


"Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return". - Leonardo Di Vinci

[Designer 0]

Humm,now it,s the rush of trying new freestyle moves.Perfecting one and adding it to my routine.It used to be the "Point" chase years ago.Nice swoop landing at the end helps put a smile on my face.

[mujie96 0]

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I sqeazed a 2 foot squirt from a gripper, after the jump perfectly dry. I didn't even have to flail like I do in the commercial dryers.

[Snowbird 0]

For all the aforementioned reasons, and

Because it makes me happier than anything else ever has. Every part of my life is better because of skydiving. It has spilled into everything, making my world brighter and more vibrant, making me eager to be in my life.

I like the 'yin and yang' concept. Very nice.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein

[turtlespeed 220]

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Hey everyone..I know this has been done before, but why do you skydive? What do you feel when you're up in the air?

1)Because i can't imagine not skydiving.

2)Challenged

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[AirMail 0]

My philosophy has always been-

If it feels good, do it.

So, I do it.

Postal Rodriguez

--
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
Postal Rodriguez, Muff 3342

[MGSkyFlyer 0]

Yes Mark I am coming out to Chicks Rock! I will bring some gifts from Hawaii as well! Oh I can't hardly wait! WWWW Elsinrore!!! Oh...AND my little sister turns 18 on Halloween....so me and the bro will be out for that as well! I can't wait...sharing the air with TWO members of my family...this is why I skydive!!!!!

I miss you MARK!!!! We still on for dinner?

[Shark 0]

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I miss you MARK!!!! We still on for dinner?

Absolutely!
Miss ya, too.

[Fast 0]

Well ya see, there I was in this plane... Fully booked flight.

Was wondering when the inflight service would be, and the pilot said there was no meal, was so upsetting to me and the other passengers we threw the door open and got out. Some airline that was

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[kai2k1 0]

Because the Chicks Dig It!

All kidding aside, I like the camraderie, freedom, the challenge of learning something new, the danger, the rush, and it makes me want to live!!

Blue Skies
KAI

There's no truer sense of flying than sky diving," Scott Cowan

[freeflir29 0]

It's a lot like masturbation. It just has to get done.

[cuchulinn 0]

In the beginning it was "Simply because I CAN!" but I continue to do it because of the people I've meet, the friendships I've developed, the life style we represent, AND THE PARTIES we have!

SMA#18

[Dumpster 0]

#10 - Gives me yet another reason to leave work early on a nice day.

#9 - It bores my co-workers to death when I talk about it, so they leave me the hell alone!

#8 - Gives me something exciting to say when folks ask "How was your weekend?"

#7 - It gives me a reason to get up at 6:00 AM on a Saturday.

#6 - It really pisses my wife off when I talk about 4-ways with other women.

#5 - The skydiver's vocabulary is so full of sexual innuendo.

#4 - It triggers some of the same emotions as hot sex does.

#3 - It makes me horny. (Like we need a hormone boost, really -)

#2 - Hot chicks willingingly spread thier legs so I can sit between them!

And last but not least -

#1 Reason I skydive - It's the most fun you could ever have with your pants on! (And clothing is an option!)

Easy Does It

[freeflygoddess 0]

Dang everyone has said all that I would say. I guess I jump because the door is open and there is nothing like being dead from leaving that door to walking into the hanger with your canopy over your shoulder. I just hope that when I do die I will still feel the same and will be in an everlasting freefall.

[livendive 8]

I just skydive for all the sex it gets me.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Hi Mel

Nice post, especially seeing as it's your first (umm ... beer) post here on "dropzone.com". But I'm not so sure about that signature of yours (you didn't quite get it right). See you soon and I'll have a special VHS tape waiting for you.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[12500ft 2]

Steve,
Thanks for the tape. You jumping tomorrow for Garret's birthday? As for the quote, I just got a t-shirt with that on it.....didn't mean to steal yours....i'll have to look for something new. See you soon.

Mel

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Thanks for the tape.

Well I haven't given it to you yet.

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You jumping tomorrow for Garret's birthday?

Probably not for a few reasons. First off, I wasn't aware of any special jumps and wasn't invited. Secondly I doubt I could get time off of work. And lastly, I have an early volleyball game at the Island tomorrow night.

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As for the quote, I just got a t-shirt with that on it.....didn't mean to steal yours....i'll have to look for something new.

Oh not to worry. I'll likely be changing mine sometime soon anyway. I just thought it was funny that you were quoting Leonardo and no I didn't think you were steeling from me. The quote probably just effected you as it did myself.

Bye for now ...

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Jump4Joy 0]

No wonder you're on the brink of a divorce.