i didn’t splatter, and neither did jessica, so we have come out the other side with pictures to share. can’t wait to get the videos in the mail this week, those should be even more fun. but for now…

this is us on the ground, with our uncomfortable harnesses, waiting for our instructors to take us up. i say ‘instructors’ loosely; basically all they taught us beforehand was ‘crouch at the edge, when they say go, arch your back on the way out, and follow their lead once you’re out there’. very instructional.

probably the most awkward part was once we were up in the tiny plane and had to get secured to them; i got to sit on this nice guy’s lap for a solid couple minutes while we waited for the other people closer to the door to jump before us. but when i say jump, i really mean just kind of roll out of the plane and instantly disappear from sight. there’s not a lot of ‘jumping’ involved.

nice view of the ground i was rushing toward; although from that height (about 2 miles to start), the ground’s so far away the idea of hitting it didn’t really even enter my mind, and it feels more like floating than falling. if my physics memory serves me, that’s probably because you’re not really accelerating that much, and your body feels changes in velocity, not actual speed. who cares if you’re falling about a mile a minute.

i definitely was not aware that my face could do this… but despite my strange g-forced grimace, i assure you i was having an awesome time at this moment.

so was jessica, who jumped just a minute after i did, and whose smile the air pressure was much kinder to.

the camera guys that jumped with us were great at flying right up to us and making us wave, give thumbs up, etc, which almost kept you from thinking about the fact that you were falling from 12,500 feet above the ground.

and then safely back on the ground. i got a little carried away with the metal signs throughout the whole experience, but i guess these things happen when you’re so fucking hardcore. i kinda wish i got a mountain dew chugging photo to go with this.

all in all, great fun. if you haven’t, you should try it, and i may just go back to go with you.