Should i do it!

[Snipersunset 0]

Hi all, I'm thinking about learning to skydive but there's one problem I don't like heights! lol
I don't mind being at heights when i have something to hold onto or i'm inside something, so being in a plane or on a high roller coaster etc is no problem and i enjoy it. But if i'm up a ladder then i hate it!
I'm wondering if i have the bottle to actually jump out of a plane. It's something i've wanted to do for years but i'm not sure if i can actually throw myself out of a plane.

Has anyone else gone through this sort of thing and managed to do it in the end, or can i get an instructor to physically kick me out of the plane!? Ha ha

Cheers

[skydiverbry 0]

It's not about heights,it about altitude.
Me,I'm scared to death of heights.Put me on a 30 foot roof and I can't move,think,function in any way.
But I have never had a problem at 13,500

Just me though.
I don't think you'll find anyone to kick ya out of a plane,either you want to jump or you don't

Bry

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Growing old is mandatory.Growing up is optional!!

D.S.#13(Dudeist Skdiver)

[brettski74 0]

Try it and you'll soon learn that skydiving has little to do with a fear of heights. I once met a girl who was deathly afraid of heights. She took up skydiving as a way to confront her fear of heights. She soon realized that it had nothing to do with her fear, but she liked the sport so at the time I met her she'd done about 700 jumps but still got scared walking up or down a flight of stairs.

I think there's more to most people's "fear of heights" than many people think. For example, it may not really be the height you're afraid of. Maybe it's the knowledge that you could fall and hit the ground beneath you that's scaring you rather than the actual height. When skydiving, the ground is so far away that after a few jumps, you're brain starts to figure out that you've got the time and ability to handle it, but you still might be afraid of being on that ladder.

Virtually everyone is apprehensive to throw themselves out of a plane that first time. That's normal. Do a tandem. You'll be attached to an instructor so that takes away a lot of the pressure and unless you're really fighting him/her in the door, you'll be getting out.

[theonlyski 8]

Dont look down.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[skydiverbry 0]

Shut up and jump!! Right??

Bry

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Growing old is mandatory.Growing up is optional!!

D.S.#13(Dudeist Skdiver)

[theonlyski 8]

Pretty much.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[skydiverbry 0]

Kinda my thoughts,but I do have a sensitive side

Bry

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Growing old is mandatory.Growing up is optional!!

D.S.#13(Dudeist Skdiver)

[Distabled 0]

How about you do this,

1)Pick up the phone.
2)Dial the drop zone's number
3)Book a jump
4)PAY FOR THE JUMP
5)Go do the jump
6)Get back on here and post a photo or vid

Dont even think about what it might be like, you will be wrong in any event. Just do it and cut out the guess work.

Easy.

.......oh and have fun, that is what life is for.

Get busy living or get busy dying!

[eightate8at8 0]

Sure, you might be scared; but it's one of those things that you just have to go '3...2...1...FUCK IT!' in your head and just jump. After a second out the door you'll realize how incredible it is

[airtwardo 7]

...Be Rude NOT To!

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

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

I'm seriously scared of heights. In the plane, it isn't height anymore, it's altitude. However, a friend refused to look down when the door was opened until about his 10th jump or so.

Someone once told me that it's usually more a fear of edges than height.

A couple years ago I helped put a new roof on a friend's house. getting off the ladder onto the roof was bad, Getting off the roof onto the ladder was worse (because I had to look down).
As you can probably guess, everyone was highly amused that I have no problem jumping from airplanes, but I'm scared silly climbing off a roof.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[Snipersunset 0]

I think you've hit the nail on the head there, it's that edge thing that gets me.

To be fair i think it's an option of bokking it sucking it up and stepping off of the edge!

[Andy9o8 2]

I, too, have a terrible fear of heights - when on something attached to the ground.
Skydiving, being from an aircraft in flight, generally doesn't invoke a fear of heights. It would be more a fear of ... well, death.

Hey! Enjoy your first jump!

[shah269 0]

OK I'm not afraid of heights, but I was a bit twitchy when asked to put my feet on the wheel strut for the first time. After that it was all gravy.
I can't tell you to do it, because it's your choice. But I would suggest maybe stopping over at the local LZ see what is what, talk to the guy or gal who does the tandems and see if it strikes your fancy.
After all you can jump and just keep your arms crossed and enjoy the ride.
It's not like standing on a ledge, or on a bridge or on a ladder....it's different. It's beautiful. It's peaceful.
Good luck and hope every thing works out for you!
Shah

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[Tuna-Salad 0]

What sort of answer did you expect on a skydiving forum? I don't think anyone here will say "NO!!! Don't do it!!!"

Unless of course you are talking about marriage and kids.. but that is a different story

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

[shah269 0]

If some one were to come to me and ask if they should pick up a bike.....and I liked them I would tell them no.
No in that you can really hurt your self bad and it can some one else fault.

This sport.....it's different. It's not a yes no thing. Well at least not for me anyway. It's a look in yourself, close your eyes, feel the earth beneath your feel, feel gravity pulling on your bones and wonder how it would feel to be free of it type of question.

Seldom does one find a simple cut and dry answer to such a question. We fear heights for we fear getting hurt. We fear heights because perhaps we fear loosing our footing.

Deep questions that need to be approached with an open mind.

Go to the drop zone, talk to a few people, check out some of the youtube videos look around your self and make a choice that makes you happy. You may not jump today or tomorrow or ever but best to know and feel comfortable with your decision than to spend your life wondering why.

I looked around, felt the weight of gravity on my bones and thought I want a few seconds of peace. And so I jumped and though only three times thus far. I can't tell you how at peace I am with my decision.

Best of luck.

Life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

The only thing that falls from the sky is birdshit and fools!

[Lenzo 0]

My wife has to go up on the roof to clear the leaves out of the gutters,I hate being up on the roof.But I love being at 13,500 feet.My Baseball team that I coach get A kick out of that every time my wife tells them how I hate heights

Smile,pull,land

[Sapphire 0]

Just do it! I am terrified of heights... so much so that I hate climbing on a small 3-4 step ladder. So, yeah... getting into the plane sucks more then jumping out of it - haha! I can't look over ledges, so being on the 3rd floor of my apartment building sorta sucks when I go out on the deck - I MUST remain close to the wall. It is a different perspective when you're up so high... and I know my 2 jumps were just tandems, (so I'm surely no authority on the subject), but I still don't remember being afraid at the door. AFF CAT B is tomorrow, so we'll see if that changes... my only worries right now is flying the canopy, but that's a totally different subject.

If you have the desire to jump... seriously, schedule it and DO IT! I kept putting it off for various reasons - some important, other's just waiting on friends to make up their minds. In the end, I showed up at the DZ alone and haven't regretted it one bit. It was, by far, the best experience of my life!

"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar" ~ Helen Keller

[mellow 0]

i, too, have a terrifying fear of heights, but had zero fear on my first (and only, so far) tandem jump because i had complete trust in the instructor i jumped with. also, before i jumped, i hung around the dz for a couple of hours, went on 2 ride alongs in the plane and watched other jumpers jump and then land safely. i knew very little about the sport, so this got me a little acclimated.

i also read somewhere that fear of heights kicks in when you look down and can identify objects (like from a ladder, a ferris wheel, a building, etc.) but from 15,000 ft, the mind cannot compute distance in the same way, there are no "objects" to identify, so there is no fear of heights. that explanation worked for me, anyway.

there are lots of great responses to your post here.... in the end, do what feels right

for me, skydiving blasted all of the cobwebs out from between my ears! it woke me up big time, and i feel great and can't wait to start training to go solo!

Jennifer

don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. and then go do that, because what the world needs is people that come alive.

[Snipersunset 0]

Cheers for the input guys and gals, really appreciate it.