doedeclare

Hello again! I thought I'd pop in on this thread in case any other newbies are questioning whether or not to continue on in the sport. Six months later, 105 skydives, B-licensed, 2 severely sprained ankles, dozens of bruises and dirt showers, 3 canopy courses, countless laughs, smiles and high fives, I have to say that this journey continues to get better each and every day. I learn something from every jump and am now working towards serious goals to progress my skill and knowledge. The people I've met are invaluable to me and I wonder how I've gone through life thus far without this community. I'm stoked to be here and appreciate every warm welcome and piece of advice that's been shared with me!

Passed my last AFF today and had a smooth stand up landing! Thanks for the tips on flare strength. I've been doing arm workouts and it has made a world of a difference. I can now actually complete a full flare and was able to safely land and stand up 4/7 AFF jumps. Can't wait to go through my solos and coach jumps this week.

Thanks so much.

Congrats!!! I just finished my AFF levels 1 and 2 yesterday! My FJC instructor was amazing and both of my AFF jump instructors were just as cool. Weekdays seem to be much less busy if thats a concern of yours and you want to get through them quickly. Maybe someone else can touch on this question a bit, but my flaring capabilities are pretty dismal. I'm a woman and have basically no upper arm strength. I can perform the control check canopy flare, but on landing it seems to be much harder... I think I need to get some weights and work out, but I'm open to suggestions!

It seems to be a cold or allergies I think. If I were to jump outside of the US does that count towards my A license? I'll be going to the UK and Amsterdam if you know of any good dropzones in that general vicinity. And LOL at trying not to become obsessed. I knew it was too late for me as soon as the first jump, I have just gotten not-so-great feedback from my friends so I've been trying to downplay everything in general. I'm glad you guys get it though. Thanks for the links- the SIM will be my go to before bed reading now!

Thanks for the replies!! I got a bit sick this week (I wonder if its from the jumps?) and figure out which day to do my AFF over the weekend as long as I'm feeling better. I'm going out of town the majority of May and know that if I don't go before then I'll be thinking about it the entire time, but also know that if I go before then I will just be itching to go again. Luckily I have a pretty open schedule and can go when I want, I just am trying to not become obsessive so immediately.

Hello I'm Elle and I'm so happy to be here. I did my first tandem jump last Wednesday in Perris and as I've seen the story go around here, as soon as I touched the ground all I could think about was going back into the sky. I didn't have any fear going into it or throughout the entire process, and my excitement was 400% reinforced after the jump. I couldn't stop thinking about it and watched my video over and over and decided to do another tandem on Sunday just to make sure I loved it as much as I thought I did. When my instructor asked me how it was all I could say was it was better than the first. I'm ready to sign up for the AFF class at Perris and start working towards my A license. I would love to find out how to meet people and find friends in my area or any surrounding areas that are into this sport (I'm in Orange County) as all of my friends think I'm mad for pursuing this. I've always been a bit of a hedonist, but I have yet to find anything that has felt this incredible. If anyone has any suggestions at all I would love to hear them and learn more about the sport and culture.