World's Highest Tandem Skydive

So the cat's out of the bag, last weekend I went skydiving. I blocked all of my family and family friends from the album on Facebook hoping to keep it a secret until I get a real job and sit down with my parents to watch some home movies (and just slip in the skydiving video).

I'm not sure how they found out and don't really care too much. I'm happy they know.

Skydiving was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. I got a group together and after many backed out, we had a group of four, perfect for the group discount. It was quite an international group: a student from Canada, Australia, Japan, and uh, Jersey.

The scariest moment was by far signing your life away on those papers they give you, ensuring you won't sue if something goes wrong. What kept me calm was the realization that these people do this all the time, not just everyday but multiple times a day.

Three of the four signed up for 18,000 feet, the world's highest tandem jump complete with video and photography. One member of our group opted for 15,000 feet, California's Highest Tandem. She said that in Sydney, they only go to 10,000 feet, so it's still a good deal.

It turns out that on Saturday, only our Aussie friend got to go because after she jumped clouds and fog rolled in, typical for Monterey. I had a feeling it wasn't going to happen that day because I woke up in cloudiness.

Sunday, I woke up to sunlight flooding my room, a good breakfast and excitement in my veins. We biked over to the airport again, yes we biked to skydiving, and everyone knew today was the day.

There are things in the hanger like scrabble, a pool table, a deck of cards, etc. to keep us entertained while waiting for paperwork and for our group to get going, but we exhausted all of the entertainment opportunities Saturday waiting for clouds to pass. By the time Sunday came around, we ended up singing and dancing outside, entertaining ourselves with yoga and goofing off.

We found out it was time. Again, we would be in the second batch of skydivers, after the 15,000 ft group. It was calming and incredibly exciting to see them land before we took off.

 If you scroll quick, it looks like I'm moving:

Riding in the plane was definitely second on the scariest moments list. Flying high in the sky then hearing my instructor say "we've still got 12,000 feet to go" was shocking. I almost wanted to ask (a couple times) "you know we're not strapped together yet, right?" A few minutes later, he told me to sit on his lap to get strapped in (this is where signing the funny part of the contract about equipment placement and touching came into play). We were strapped in and I was the first to jump.

This is my "We still have 12,000 feet to go" face:

After joking with my roommate who was next to me and the guys we were strapped to, I kept thinking of what Dad said about how one thing he learned being a pilot is that you're not supposed to jump out. I knew the moment of jumping out was going to go quick. I told myself "You are about to jump out of a plane," so I could remember the moment.

I thought of any stress I've had looking and applying for jobs after. I thought about how this was my last semester ever. I thought about how if not now, when? Then I did it. The guy strapped to my back said this is it and we went to the edge. I saw the cameraman jump and a few seconds later, I was behind him.

The freefall was incredible. 90 seconds full of coastline views, 120mph winds, some spins and horseplay from the guy strapped on my back and me repeating the words "holy shit." The scariness disappears the second you jump out.

(This is me being selective about pictures....)

Once we were low enough, Brandon pulled the shoot and my legs swiftly returned to where they should be, under me and not behind. It was a very peaceful experience gliding down. We faced the coast, and I felt like I was taking the clearest breath I've ever had, not because my sinuses were clear after the jump or that I wasn't breathing in the fall, but because it was really peaceful.

We did a couple of spins and then all of a sudden I dropped a few inches on Brandon. "WTF?! Where ya goin?" He said he was loosing things up to make me more comfortable. My response: "I'm plenty comfortable strapped as close to you as possible."

After that, we glided down, I kicked my feet out and landed in a squat.

We stood up and I thought about how much I wish I was back up on that plane, doing it all over again.

Video coming soon