Why do you skydive?

[Bear 0]

Hello:

I am a master’s student in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism and I am writing a research paper on motivations for skydiving. I would like to know what made you start skydiving and why you continue to do it?
Thank you in advance for all who take the time to post.

Cheers,
Bear

[airtwardo 7]

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results;search_forum_id=;search_string=%22Why%20do%20you%20skydive%22;search_user_username=;search_user_id=;search_time=;search_forum_type=all;search_forum=all;search_fields=sb;search_type=AND;page=1;mh=25;

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Divalent 138]

Wow! Haven't seen one of these threads in more than a week!

(To the OP: if you learn to use the search function here, you will have stories galore.)

[edited to add that I got sniped by the old geezers: by the time I came back here with my link to the same search, they both had already posted it ]

[oldwomanc6 58]

I'm sure that people will come along and give their reasons, as well, but this should keep you busy for awhile.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_type=AND&search_string=why+do+you+skydive

lisa
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[phreeloader 0]

i can't speak for these other guys.. but i just had too much money and couldn't find a big enough hole to throw it in

[oldwomanc6 58]

Hey! Great minds and all that!

lisa
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[airtwardo 7]

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i can't speak for these other guys.. but i just had too much money and couldn't find a big enough hole to throw it in

Yeah?...me, I lost a bet!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[airtwardo 7]

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Hey! Great minds and all that!

Did you know ya can get a master’s in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism?



What would be the title for a thesis...

"Ya want fries with that?"

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

This really isn't something that can be described. As a zen master must whack his students with a bamboo stick until they become enlightened, so too must you jump out of an airplane until you become enlightened.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[oldwomanc6 58]

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This really isn't something that can be described. As a zen master must whack his students with a bamboo stick until they become enlightened, so too must you jump out of an airplane until you become enlightened.

Enlightened? I thought you became essentially weightless in freefall? Is that the same thing?

lisa
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[Bear 0]

I have researched a lot of the threads previously posted and I have gotten a lot of good data from them, but most responses are why people continue to skydive. There aren't as many as to what were your initial motivations for doing the first jump.

[oldwomanc6 58]

Well, you asked the wrong question (or two), then.

You are still within your edit window; you may want to rephrase your OP, in order to get the responses you want.

lisa
WSCR 594
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[airtwardo 7]

Okay Bear, I bite~

I started when I was 18, I think something I was exposed to as a young child fascinated me to the point it was something I always wanted to try.

My dad had a Piper Cub and he would take me to local airshows, fly-in breakfasts etc.

Many times there would be skydivers performing demonstration jumps...I loved THAT part more than any of the aircraft stuff.

The television series Ripcord was popular during my formative years and I never missed an episode.

I use to make a parachute out of bed-sheets and clothes-line then jump from my 2nd story balcony bouncing off the picnic table and into the sandbox.

Right out of high school I found a small parachute club located in a midwest cornfield, took my first jump course with a buddy who had just returned from Vietnam...

It was everything I'd ever imagined and more.

38 years later I'm still as enthusiastic about skydiving as I was crawling outta the sandbox.


~IS that any help?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[mr2mk1g 10]

Doing a masters in parks 'n shit? Nah, skydivers aren't allowed into parks - counts as aerial delivery and they get taken to jail. Land of the free an' all.

[airtwardo 7]

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Doing a masters in parks 'n shit? Nah, skydivers aren't allowed into parks - counts as aerial delivery and they get taken to jail. Land of the free an' all.

I've done demos in both state & national parks...

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[popsjumper 2]

I had a daredevil for a brother and he talked me into it. along with scuba, hang gliding, kart racing, and more. Pretty cool that all the very abbreviated training was free and the jumps were $5 IIRC.

I got off cheap at first....then the negative income started piling up....


I blame it all on him.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[airtwardo 7]

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I had a daredevil for a brother and he talked me into it. along with scuba, hang gliding, kart racing, and more. Pretty cool that all the very abbreviated training was free and the jumps were $5 IIRC.

I got off cheap at first....then the negative income started piling up....


I blame it all on him.

No fault of the evil drink & women?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[FastRon 0]

Because I had wanted to for a long time, and I knew it was probably going to be the hardest thing I had ever done. The first one was... It was also the coolest thing I'd ever done too. I resumed it after a motorcycle wreck and 32 years and it is still about the funnest thing you can do with your clothes on....

[HomeyTheClown 1]

I did it to find God. Seriously. It was either clarity or suicide. Skydiving is like nothing else. It just feels so good.

[diablopilot 2]

I'd give well thought out replies to this one guys, Bear is a skydiver, and she gets us, I imagine she wants to hear it in your words.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[devildog 0]

Quote

Hello:

I am a master’s student in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism and I am writing a research paper on motivations for skydiving. I would like to know what made you start skydiving and why you continue to do it?
Thank you in advance for all who take the time to post.

Cheers,
Bear

Because jumping without the parachute is a 1 time affair

You stop breathing for a few minutes and everyone jumps to conclusions.

[Andy9o8 2]

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Bear is a skydiver, and she gets us,

Thanks for the heads-up. Given her blank profile and no reference to her being a skydiver in her OP, that wasn't apparent. Perhaps this experience will advance her education in research methodology.

[FB1609 0]

I was always fascinated with aviation, a guy I worked with had around a thousand jumps, I was impressed and decided it was my cheapest way to get in the air. Once I saw my first 4 way in freefall (laying on the grass) then some nice soft easy landings...(F111 days). I was hooked

[oldwomanc6 58]

This thread has a lot of good, detailed answers.

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[BillyVance 34]

I had never thought about skydiving until I was in my mid 20's and somebody who drifted out of my life at age 6 suddenly re-appeared and we hit it off like long lost buddies. He told me he started skydiving the year before and wanted me to come out with him next time. I was like WHAT? I had no intention of jumping out of airplanes.

Eventually, he convinced me to at least come out and watch. So I did. Watched jumpers come in for landings. Thought to myself "that ain't so bad", and grudgingly signed up for a tandem. I about hyperventilated when I went in freefall with the instructor but the canopy ride was awesome. Finished with a nice tippy toe stand up landing, which unfortunately isn't very common nowadays.

I was sold on the spot and promptly signed up for static line training, and never looked back or second guessed it. The 20 year anniversary of that first jump is this June.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban