Anyone gotten burned out on skydiving?

[BigM 2]

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I quit in March - sold all my gear - couldn't be happier....I got sick and tired of how people treated me at the DZ....and the moment I quit - I found out exactly who my real friends were.....such is life - next adventure....

Cindy- just curious: If you made such a dramatic break from the sport (and found your "real" friends) why are you still trolling this forum?

"When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

[Hooknswoop 19]

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Cindy- just curious: If you made such a dramatic break from the sport (and found your "real" friends) why are you still trolling this forum?

Does a pilot stop talking about flying as if it never happened if they lose their medical or retire from flying?

Also: I don't think she meant that none of her skydiving friends were her real friends, just that some of her skydiving friends weren't. It is amazing how fast you stop hearing from some people when you stop skydiving.

Derek

[TequilaGirl 0]

Geez - thank you for reminding me why I quit.....

[Designer 0]

Not burned out,really?Tend to look at the sport differently now.Hey,I made a whole 10 jumps this year!5 more than last year!Now,it seems like i,m packing more mains and trying to help the students(and some newbies)survive under canopy.Teaching what I know.

[juggalo 1]

dude
don't quit just go back to the part of jumpin that made you stay around in the first place. i get the same feelings you expressed sometimes and some of the other comments here apply too. $$$$
lack of decent belly fliers yuppies all of it
But after 25 years nothing suprises me anymore, well maybe the new ways we kill and main ourselves.
just go back to the fun and thrilling part of jumpin that hooked you in the first place

and don't sell your gear if ya do retire.
peace

waving off is to tell people to get out of my landing area

[usedtajump 1]

Yep.

The older I get the less I care who I piss off.

[msmithd8769 0]

Sure, it happens. I started jumping in 1981, got my JM, I, and Tandem I ratings. Competed in the Nationals in 4 way RW but got burned out mainly due to the constant working with students. Not that I had anything against students of course, I loved teaching, but being an instructor puts a business aspect into the sport and makes it more of a job rather than a fun pastime. You don't have the time to make fun jumps like you want and it does tend to burn you out. I stopped jumping in 1993 and have just gotten back into the sport this past summer; it was really neat because it all came back just like riding a bike. My ratings are expired of course and I am just hanging out at the DZ now in "fun jumper" status. It's great!! I'm back into doing some good RW, my wife has also gotten back into the sport after 17 years off and we are loving it!! Would I ever get my ratings updated and start working with students again? I don't know, maybe. It's not out of the question but for now I'm lovin' "fun jumper" status and am presently working with my wife, who now has about 80 jumps, on RW training and instruction. So take a break if you need to. Lots of folks get burned out, take a breather, and return to jumping later on down the road. The worst thing you can do is to keep doing something that your heart is not into. Some time off can work wonders. Good luck to you....

_____________________________
"And when the prophet shall arise who appeareth as a bird then the time of the Lord draweth nigh and the flock shall rule the earth."

[msmithd8769 0]

Well I came back just recently after a 10 year break and I'm still jumping my old gear. It's mid 80s gear but it's still in good shape and it gets me to the ground every time ! So I would definely echo the other folks who advised anyone looking to take a break from the sport to NOT SELL YOUR GEAR! Hang on to it; put it in a safe place that is not subject to environmental extremes and it should keep just fine. Trust me, you will be glad you did.....

_____________________________
"And when the prophet shall arise who appeareth as a bird then the time of the Lord draweth nigh and the flock shall rule the earth."

[msmithd8769 0]

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My biggest advice to you would be that you do NOT sell your gear. You would probably take a big loss anyway, so you might as well keep it that way you are not sucking when you decide to come back. There are people on here who have taken 25 year breaks, yet eventually come back to the sport with the fervor they originally had.

The people that came back after the 25 year break - were they using the same gear?

Some do, we've got a friend who just came back from the eighties, he's jumping a Wonderhog Sprint (that's a pre-Vector Booth rig to you kids...), a Fury main and a 23 ft round reserve. He had the main container altered to a BOC setup for his pilot chute.

I was out for 22 years, and I did sell my rig. I don't hink I'd want to be jumping it nowadays anyway. But it will take several/many years for your rig to go out of date. Put it in a safe dry place in a closet and forget about it if you like, it will keep. Starting to jump again without a rig is a major hassle. I'm renting demo gear and don't know if or when I'll be able to afford a rig.

I burned out back in 1980. After about 7 years in the sport I got fed up with the usual crap. There was also a rash of fatalities and a few friends who opened reserves below 500 ft. We'd all gone to Yosemite and jumped El Capitan, and after that the DZ just seemed boring.

There is a whole world out there off the drop zone and skydiving is only one of life's many flavors. Go to school, get married, make some babies, buy a house, go across Europe on a bicycle. Run for Congress (hell, why not ?). If you're meant to come back, you will. You just sound liike you need a break.

Excellent advice!!

_____________________________
"And when the prophet shall arise who appeareth as a bird then the time of the Lord draweth nigh and the flock shall rule the earth."

[captainpooby 0]

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Geez - thank you for reminding me why I quit.....

You know, that comment leads me to think you wouldnt be happy even if we all laid our jumpsuits down for you to walk to the plane.

See ya!

[Tonto 1]

As all Buddhists know, Life is suffering.

Skydiving is mini life.

If it sucks, even just a little, you should stop. The risk and the expense is simply not worth it if you are not in love with what you do and who you are when you do it.

I've been where you are, but I changed. 1000 dives FS, then onto AFF and Tandem, then 600 competition CF dives, 2000 more AFF and Tandem, and now my former AFF students are coaching me in Freefly and Birdman.

Change - or leave. Nothing stays the same.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[TequilaGirl 0]

That is not it all - I think BigM missed my point regarding my friend statement.....two of my best friends are Hook and Skycat who I miss dearly...it is just really sad when you stop jumping and those people who you thought were your friends - now pretend you never existed....or the only time you hear from them is when they need something....

[nightjumps 1]

I took a nine year break and loved it when I got back in it. First three years were awesome. Been doing a lot of teaching the past two years and am kinda burned out for all the same BS reasons you mentioned.

This season, I'm going to move around more to different DZs and perhaps compete some. I love accuracy (its a good old days thing)... might try some swooping...

Ya got to mix it up some. Staying in one place hauling beef gets old for personalities like ours. While hauling beef pays for the jump and accrues numbers, it doesn't do anything for the quality of dives we make. I think I'd rather make less quality dives out of my own pocket than rack up numbers hauling beef.

My .02

[Vallerina 2]

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it is just really sad when you stop jumping and those people who you thought were your friends - now pretend you never existed....or the only time you hear from them is when they need something....

But, skydivers are family (insert eye rolling icon here.)

I see what you're saying, though. My jump numbers this year decreased a significant amount from the prior year. Jumping isn't as much fun because I don't jump with really good friends anymore (my home dz closed.) People's egos get to be annoying ("We just did A, B and C," "So? We just did D, E and F!!!") I liked how anal my old dzo was. Aircraft maintenence was great. He did "restrict" some of our fun (he would fly us back down if clouds rolled in etc.)

Anyways, I haven't quit skydiving, but even slowing the jumping pace down is annoying....I get tired of hearing crap about how I'm not jumping, I'm a whuffo, etc. Skydivers thinking less of me because I'm not out there every single weekend really makes me want to go and jump more (insert eye rolling icon here, too.)

There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning

[TequilaGirl 0]

Nice to know someone can relate....have you been called a traitor yet??? That was by far my favorite....

[mfrese 0]

Usually, the "traitor" tag is reserved for people like me who pull off the RW load to go freefly.

The only issue I've had with friends who quit or took some time away is that I don't see them as often. I believe that the reasons you skydive are very personal, and I would have a very hard time (in general) giving any shit to someone who quit for any reason. Now, there was one young guy at our DZ who came out, went through AFF, did about 100 jumps, got brand new gear, Mom bought him a block of 100 jump tickets, and THEN he quit with no apparent reason. HIM, I'll give shit to

Doctor I ain't gonna die,
Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

[vonSanta 0]

Hm, it's actually quite sobering reading this. Now I know that an approach to just jump and to hell with the rest is pretty good.

Am not gonna get any special ratings. I jump with my sister and thus really don't have to socialize/listen to egoes/rumours etc.

So, perhaps one way of avoiding burnout is to just skydive for the love of it, with persons you're close to and plain either ignore the rest or avoid it?

I'll quit if I find it not worth it anymore, no qualms about that and fuk what others might think. There are many adventure sports out there to try. Right now, however, skydiving is the most exciting sport there is.

Santa Von GrossenArsch
I only come in one flavour
ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst

[hookitt 1]

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Usually, the "traitor" tag is reserved for people like me who pull off the RW load to go freefly

They still say that in Hollister?

Hi Mike, I don't jump nearly as much as I used to. I've been going through stages of jumping and not jumping. I took most of a couple seasons off due to lack of interest and now I like it again. I still don't jump as much but when I do it's really fun. Part of what renewed my interest is I bought a new parachute. That thing is fun!!!

My burn out was from going from only doing Team jumps to only doing AFF jumps. Also I wasn't being challenged very much (at least in my mind) so I backed off. When I went back and a bunch of new faces were there asking where I usually jump, I knew I was ready to jump again.

Skydiving is no longer all consuming like it used to be. I still do AFF and Rigging and do my best to help newbies learn to pack, but I don't hesitate to do a shit hot 2 way with one of the many kick ass freeflyers in our area. At the end of the day, we're all just a bunch of people enjoying each others company.

I doubt that you're quitting skydiving but if you do hang it up for a while, just keep your gear. You won't be gone long. You may not jump as much but you'll at least be back in the air sometimes. I tell ya, take like 3 months off and then go make a solo and flail about and enjoy the view. THAT is one of the things that brings the beauty back into skydiving.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[JoeyRamone 0]

I am where you are at. SOld all my shit, Started in 2000, Have over 400 jumps. Did one last summer after the death of Roger Nelson. After he died i died too.

He was my friend, Mentor, etc. To see him pass on made me re-think my piorities in life.

Don't get me wrong I will still jump, just don't know when. With 4 small kids, I can not take the risk anymore. To many smucks always pushing the envelope. Best of luck in your decission.

[steve1 5]

I quit back in the mid-70's and then started up again a few years ago. What a great feeling it is to be back! The thing is though I know what it feels like to be burnt out and I don't want it to happen again. One of the big reason that I think I quit was that I was really focussing on the negative crap in our sport and I started having trouble seeing the good. I also probably needed to focus on a different aspect of our sport. Back then all there was was RW, Style, and Accuracy. Noone in our club did much other than RW (which I fell back in love with now) but it wasn't too advanced back then and not nearly as much fun or challenging as it is now. If RW starts to get old for me now I think I'll try freeflying or birdman or even a little base jumping. There's just so many different aspects to our sport now.

And yes, I was a broke bastard back in the 70's. That was another reason I started looking for another sport. I knew another guy in our club who later became famous in our sport. He had money handed to him and all he did was jump. So anyhow a personality conflict developed and I said the hell with it and started rodeoing. Sold my red-devil para-commander and Super-pro container and harness. Man I'd love to have that rig back now!

So anyhow when I'm confronted with something negative in our sport now, I try to look the other way and think about the time when I was at Eloy last winter or at Lost Prairie last summer. I've wasted way too much of my life thinking negative........Steve1

[littlestranger 0]

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I was looking forward to sharing the excitement of first time jumpers.

Brains, keep that thought. My first tandem was a gift, not the jump itself, but the fact that it opened a door for me. I will never, ever look at life the same again. For every 10 or so hungover frat boys you take up, your going to take up someone like me that will be forever grateful to you.

Erik Santee, you rock!

Blue Skies,

Teresa

[misskriss 0]

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I love tandems... but unless I was going to make my sole income off of them, I think I'm done doing them.

I've only done tandems because I've been afraid to do anything more and rode the plane back down on my AFF1 . But even if I never take that leap and do it on my own , my life is forever changed by those jumps that I did do. I never even would have made it out the door had it not been for my TM going out the door when I was not wanting to. Yeah.. the whole "i say no, he hears go, thing" ..(Thanks, babe.. ) But it made me want to go back and do it a couple more times. And even if some of you view yourselves as being an amusement park ride, you never know the effect you have on someone's life. I was afraid of heights, afraid of flying, afraid of most things deemed "risky." I'll never be the same again... it gave me the courage to confront many issues in my life and I'll never forget it.... Ever. Guaranteed neither will the students you took up only once.

[Sandro29 0]

A little over 2 years ago, a very good friend of mine called me up and said "Dude, you know what I just did....I just jumped out of a freaking plane!" He is the producer of the IMAX movie "Adrenaline Rush".

I wanted to try it for several years. Tried getting a few friends together to Tandem, but everyone always chickened out. My buddy Carl, planned a date where we could jump together. I drove up to Quebec City (Atmosphaire) a few weeks later, where I was ready to try it. Once we got to the door, I swear I never experienced fear like that in my life....we jumped, we landed....I LOVED IT !!!!!

I went back to the same DZ a few weeks later to take my AFF courses. This season was my first complete season and I can't imagine doing anything else on the weekends.

I'm considering getting a few ratings in the future, like coach, tandem or maybe just camera work. I jump over at SWOOP in Ontario and we are the oldest club in North America I beleive (I might be wrong, but we are celebrating our 25th this year)I guess because its a club and not a business, I've met some of the coolest people around.

I'm a newbie to the sport, but I sure dont see myself ever stopping....my girlfriend knows that and is considering taking her AFF so we can share the experience together.

I sure hope you find your way through this moment of indecision.....try jumping over at SWOOP, maybe you'll decide to stay in the sport.

Blue Skies !!

If at first you don't succeed....then Skydiving is not for you!

[PhreeZone 20]

>(I might be wrong, but we are celebrating our 25th this year)

There have been a few threads about this but there are a few DZ's into thier 40+ aniversery and then there are a few clubs in their 40+ too.

Since he lives in Cali I doubt Canada is a good option.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[DexterBase 1]

I woke up after getting maybe an hour and a half of sleep. I worked a 12 hour shift the night before and I was pretty exhausted. As my eyes opened, I reached for the blinds above my head to do my usual "weather check". I found myself hoping that it would be cloudy or raining so I wouldn't have to get out of bed.

This was about a year ago. That was the first time I ever wanted to do anything other than skydive. It may have simply been because I was tired and needed sleep. Since then, I have passed up chances to go skydiving when the weather was good and there weren't really any reasons not to go.

Skydiving and BASE jumping can't be everything. If you allow skydiving to completely take over your life, you will have nothing left if you were to lose it (like an injury). You'll still have friends that you made in the sport and you'll always enjoy the memories of the jumps you made, but your true passion in life will remain just out of reach.

Someone who has lost something that they loved so deeply for so long, is in a vulnerable and dangerous position. You need to be well rounded. Experience other things. Find other activities that make you happy. What would you do tomorrow if you found out today that you couldn't jump anymore? Something to think about...

Right now, I'm really into BASE. I have been neglecting my friendships at the DZ and I feel bad about it. I was actually talking to my girlfriend about this. We were talking about getting gear confiscated on a BASE jump. Since I'm on a fairly tight budget at the time, it's questionable if I'd be able to buy another rig immediately. I told her that if it came down to it, I would sell my skydiving rig to buy another BASE rig. I'm not sure what that really means. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that.

Do what makes you happy. Just keep your gear. We, and the sky, will be here when you return.