Time passes either way

As mentioned in another post, I'd been growing bored of my canopy size, yearning for a little more speed and manoeuvrability. And it just so happened that I tried on a rig during an evening hangout and that rig fit me perfectly. The majority of skydiving rigs are used, and this rig is no exception, meaning that there are a few flaws but no serious ones. The rig itself - a Vector 310 container with a Sabre 2 150 canopy - is both smaller and lighter than the first one I bought in June, and the canopy is 40 square feet smaller. My new rig to the left, and my old rig to the right. One last picture before the old one was sold To make sure I was not getting in over my head, I spent a weekend at the end of August jumping other peoples 170 canopies, which is the middle step between my previous 190 and my newly bought 150. The winds during that weekend varied a lot and I got to fly and land the canopies in everything from no-wind to high-wind conditions, all of it going extremely well. Tryi...

Tuesday evening brought clear blue skies, and I rushed to Skydive Syd after work to get at least one jump in. While I did show up with much time to spare, there was a bit of a delay finding the gear and gathering AFF instructors, and before I knew it we had to rush to get to the airplane.  I got another rig than the one I'd used previously at this drop zone; one with a 240sq. foot canopy, and the harness itself was also smaller and fit much better. Due to the time constraints, we barely had time for briefing before the jump, but I had read up at home and knew my tasks: two 360 degree turns, then flying to the instructor and docking. On the way to the airplane, the instructor told me I'd be jumping out ungripped for the first time, which did make me a little nervous, but there was no time to dwell on it as we were about to get ready. During the ride up, I once again kept going over the jump in my head, while I kept an eye on the altimeter so I could remove my seatbelt at 300m, a...

Yesterday morning, I arrived with my sister at her drop zone Skydive Skåne. In tow, we had our family dog, who is anxious around new people, and whom we'd need to take turns watching. If I was to jump at all, I would have to find AFF instructors at a drop zone that was not my own and who would therefore be fully within their rights to refuse jumping with me. Following my first two jumps this past Thursday, I had been longing to get back into the skies. Feeling uncertain regarding the logistics, I tried not to get my hopes up too much, but I'd been told that showing up would likely mean we could work something out, and so there I was. Upon arrival, the wind was a bit too strong for students, which meant that I was grounded for the time being. My sister signed up for one of the first lifts, while I sat down with our dog to watch the hours tick by and slowly get to know the people of the drop zone. The more time passed, the calmer the winds seemed to get, until they finally were j...

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...