Time passes either way

The day arrived!  I've spent all week practicing my emergency procedures, and practicing the program for the first jump, while checking the weather forecast every couple of hours desperately wishing for blue skies. The moment I saw that the weather seemed promising, I checked in with the instructors and was told that it might be too windy for students, but that I could show up if I had time. They couldn't promise anything, but said that there was a miniscule chance the wind would calm down. Naturally, I packed up my things and got up early Thursday morning to travel to the drop zone. Once at the drop zone, the wind was just above the allowed threshold for students, and so I ended up spending a couple of hours looking at the experienced skydivers as they came in for their landings, and disappeared into the skies once more. There are a couple of different ways to learn to skydive, but I had signed up for the AFF (accelerated free fall) course, where you go through a succession of...

I've spent the past two weekends at Skydive SYD, learning as much as possible about skydiving, and preparing to be able to jump myself. During the classes, you go through everything from the gear itself, to how to fly your canopy and plan your landings. You learn how to move safely outside and inside the airplane, and what to do during an emergency. You also learn to identify canopy malfunctions and how to handle them. Finally, you learn how to PLF - the technique used to minimize the risk of injury during a hard landing, where you need to roll on the ground in a specific way.  The second weekend of "ground school", we started out by rehearsing the theory, before sitting down for a written examination that tested our knowledge and understanding of the entire course. Afterwards, we proceeded to do a practical examination where we hung in a harness from the ceiling and simulated the jump from wave-off (where you wave to signal that you will pull your parachute), and all the...

Just over two years ago, I was regularly climbing, and was in the process of finding my hiking legs. Life was good, and I was creating my own adventures. Then everything came crashing down. I suddenly got a herniated disc in my lumbar spine, which rendered me barely capable of tying my own shoes, let alone do any activity more demanding than a careful walk. And so began a long journey of recovery, filled with both feelings of loss and hopelessness, but also joy and finally empowerment.  For a long time I feared my life was permanently changed and that I would never be able to do any physical activity again. I though that I'd never be able to live out all the things I've wanted to for years, whether that be thru-hiking, climbing, ascending mountains, or even trying out skydiving. I spent long hours researching back injuries, going to physical therapy, and desperately trying to trust the process even when it seemed nothing was happening. I stayed home when friends and family went...