What Made You Start Skydiving?

[udder 0]

saw 2 out of four guys hook it in at a demo during a rugby game in front of about 30 000 people. one got up, the other needed to be carted away. While being taken away on a stretcher, he raised his arm, and the whole crowd cheered. i thought "man that was cool."

"In one way or the other, I'm a bad brother. Word to the motherf**ker." Eazy-E

[Andy9o8 2]

Mine is one of those "I always wanted to do that" stories.

As a kid I read a book called "Curahee" about a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne during WW2. A lot of the book focuses on his jump school training. Read it about 10 times. Then saw a couple 4th of July demos and had my mind made up.
Then when I was a freshman in college, a friend of mine was in the skydiving club, and she took me to her DZ for my FJC.

[jimmytavino 16]

I was simply looking for a ride in an airplane...

I had never been in one before.... and all they wanted was 50 bucks...

... i was a college sophomore...and the school had a skydiving club...
Saw the Movie Masters of the Sky ( 16 mm projector) at an informational meeting..( sept. 1972)
I had my S/L training in a class of 28 people on a thurs and friday nite. and jumped that saturday.. made another on wed, and in 2 weeks, i was in freefall....
A fine and wise decision on my part,, ( if I do say so myself..)

That first airplane ride evidently came with a bonus...!!!
I had 250 jumps or so,,, before i ever LANDED in a plane !!!!

There is no denying it... My life has been ENHANCED, by the people, places and memories
which i have experienced, through jumping...

jmy

[countzero 7]

always wanted to do it to see what it was like. did AFF with a couple of friends for my b-day one year.

diamonds are a dawgs best friend

[Tornolf 0]

Saw a base video online and decided I wanted to base jump.

So I made 400+ skydives in less then a year, then started base jumping.

Don't really skydive anymore.

A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world.
-TJ

[ladyhawke 0]

My husband and I just got back from sailing the Bahamas for 2 weeks in a 38' Morgan. Got a call that night from Kara (who had been pestering us to skydive for over 3 years) asking if we were ready to skydive. Well, I was feeling quite full of myself as a death defying adventurer and all so I said SURE! We did a tandem the next day! AFter that I couldn't get skydiving out of my mind!

"It is our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities." - A. Dumbledore

[Dumpster 0]

Global Warming.

Easy Does It

[azureriders 0]

The door was open, I fell out, after that, I couldn't think of any thing better to do.

[Para_Frog 1]

I followed 100 other lemming dumbasses out the side of a C-141 over Ft. Benning, GA in 1991.

Hit the civilian DZ 2 weeks later - I was done.

- Harvey, BASE 1232
TAN-I, IAD-I, S&TA

BLiNC Magazine Team Member

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

I was born into it (my dad was jumping before I was born).

More important question: what keeps me jumping? The people, and the continuing challenge of competition, both with other and myself.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[skycat76 0]

Went on vacation. When I came back the girl filling in for me set up a group to go skydiving. If she had 10 people, she got a huge discount. Guess what, I was number 10. She couldn't find anyone else and if I didn't go, she wouldn't get the discount. So, after a jumper talked to me for an hour about jumping, I decided to try it.

I loved it, became addicted. Only one of the group that continued jumping. Skydiving is my passion now!

[FallingDuck 0]

It was something that I always wanted to do. And when I turned 18 I went for it and loved it.

[tonka 2]

Well I was a DZ kid and my dad is a DZO so I was born into it.
If that wasnt the case I would have probably never even though of skydiving.

Paintballing and collecting/shooting guns was what I was into before this. Now thats on the back burner while I jump as much as I can.

[ScottTX 0]

I had a few reasons.

I wanted to do something that was intresting and would add some spice to my life.

After my Dad and Sister passed away, there was a huge void in my life, and this has helped in that regard.

I wanted to be involved in something outside of work.

Those are the main ones.

I have met some really great people since becoming involved in this sport, and the friends I have made are fantastic!

[recovercrachead 0]

I got my Bail money back!!!!!!!!!

Track high, Pull LOW!!!

[VectorBoy 0]

The plane was on fire.

[PLFXpert 0]

I wanted to learn to skysurf. Seriously.
I had recently quit a lot of the fun things in my life for personal reasons. Around the time I was ready to get back out and do something I met a woman--a skydiver--who had just returned from Thailand on a skydiving trip. Her story/ies were inspirational. More importantly, it sounded fun as hell.

Never have learned to skysurf--but had no idea before I started jumping there were SO many other fun & amazing diciplines.

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[hongkongluna 0]

my original reason was because the fear was too delicious !! That brain stem buzz when I let go of the plane on my first AFF level was too intense to not do again...

"if this doesn't kill me, i'm definitely doing that again!"

i got off on the terror i felt in the first 20 jumps or so :)

I keep jumping because its the most fun...

-Rainier

Sparks Brother #1 // "I vaguely heard someone yell "wait!" but by that point i was out the door." Quote from dz.com somewhere

[Marios 0]

Saw it on TV when I was 8 or 9 and told my parents I wanted to do that. They said that I am crazy.
When I was 20 and went to ASU to study there was the Arizona Outdoors Club going skydiving the second week of school with group prices.
I did my first tandem at that time. My parents were not happy at all. I knew I had to return.
A couple of years later I was with some friends in our motorcycle club and they said they were going skydiving in the weekend. That was my second tandem. My parents were not happy at all again. I knew I had to return.
About a year later with some money saved up I started AFF. I think my parents hate me or something. I knew I was going to return almost every weekend.

[Jazzthieve 0]

My dad is (well actually was) a paratrooper in the Belgian army, he got me a tandem jump when I was 16 and I enjoyed that very much even though I was pretty scared in the plane. At 16 years old I didn't have the necessary finances to persue the sport of skydiving. Later came motorcycling but eventualy at 26 I decided to give it up for skydiving, and the fact that I live 10 miles away from my DZ also helped.

[kevinwhelan 0]

The best story I ever heard of why someone started skydiving. When the Irish parachute clup was starting they put up posters around the place.

One woman saw them and went home to her son. She said she had seen posters up around the place that there was a "Parish Youth Club" starting in the town and he should join it.

He said he didn't tell her for years what they were realy doing

"be honest with yourself. Why do I want to go smaller? It is not going to make my penis longer." ~Brian Germain, on downsizing