Skydiving

One of Rick's hobbies is skydiving. He has well over 900 jumps to his credit, and has been doing it for years. And for the past three of them, shayla's been teasing him about it. Shayla was brought up with the mindset, 'there's never a good reason to jump out of a perfectly good airplane'. Couple that with a healthy, strong phobia of heights, and you've got a person who would never, ever, voluntarily jump out of a plane. Just like she'd never voluntarily set foot in California.

So, between Rick, who felt it was time to pay the piper; and Master, who's always been one to push shayla in what she's weak or phobic about so that she can improve in her weaknesses, it was set in stone that Rick'd be tossing shayla out of a plane while she was there. The very thought was nauseating. Only the fact that she trusts Rick as much as she does, and both his and Master's experience, made the possibility considerable.

The Sunday after she got there, Rick drove her to the drop zone. The drive there took about an hour. Can't go skydiving over L.A., you'd wind up landing somewhere you wouldn't want to be. The people at Elsinore are a very friendly, open group. A refreshing mixture of professional, thorough, and insanely fun. Extremely thorough in what they do. That day shayla essentially loitered, observed the divers re-packing their chutes, and absorbed everything she could. For some reason it was really enjoyable.

Rick had shayla go up on an 'observer' ride on one of his jumps that day. Basically, she sat in the cockpit with the pilot & watched. Though she did have to wear a chute (FAA reg). That thing was murder on shayla's balance. Getting up from a bench to walk to the plane, she almost fell on her ass. It weighed 30 pounds, a real eyeopener considering that shayla's shed that amount and more the past couple years. No wonder she was so tired all the time!!

Pack the plane with as many divers as you can, & then up. To 12,500 feet. It didn't take long to get there, & shayla's stomach was roiling half the time, plus some lightheadedness. The planes that they use aren't pressurized, and the higher one gets, the thinner the air is. It took a little getting used to. And it'd been a long time since shayla's been in a plane that small. Once at the right altitude they opened the door. It was absolutely insane, watching these men & women jump out. Rick was the last out, a tremendous grin & wave to shayla before he jumped.

The trip down was actually harder than the trip up. Shayla's stomach had to do a little catching up to her when the pilot took that plane down so fast. And there was a moment when shayla was thinking, 'I should have jumped, the way down would have been smoother' It is.

The next weekend it was the same, pack up the car, some lunch & drinks, & off to the drop zone. We got things organized, filled out the paperwork, sat through a short video, & then walked the short way to the packing area. Rick, as expected, went up & took a dive, as shayla's wasn't until that afternoon. So she spent time as she did before, loitering, observing, absorbing information.

About six plane loads later, shayla needed to get with her instructor. James was just as funny and thorough as the rest of his co-workers. Joked around even while he soothed shayla's nerves. We went through the short training about what we'd be doing, what shayla needed to do during the jump, how things would happen and when. Shayla got harnessed up (Rick & shayla had a private chuckle with that little getup), then one last review before we were on the plane. Rick made sure that he was jumping with shayla, who, it wound up, would be the last out of the plane. There were two other women who were doing their first jump on that load, as well. It helped to see them as nervy as shayla was.

And then we were at altitude and the door opened. Out everyone pours. Shayla was ok up 'til she got to the door & then she froze. She could remember precisely what she needed to do, only it was hard to move. And it was a long way down. So James actually placed shayla's hands on the harness where they needed to be.

OK, down on one knee like we'd trained. Rock forward, back, & then out. Out and down, yikes. Shayla's stomach lurched when we first started moving, but then it was over when we reache our top free-fall speed. 120 mph. No sense of motion, only the wind in your face. A hard, fast wind. It's impossible to talk, though breathing's not hard. There was a few seconds where shayla kept her eyes shut (reminding herself that she wasn't going to die), but then she opened them. Just incredible.

It's just gorgeous up there. You're not attached to anything (trainer & chute notwithstanding), just the air and you. And while shayla was overloaded with everything that was going on, it was just intoxicating. It actually does feel like you're flying.

At 5500 feet, you pull your chute. For some reason shayla wasn't able to reach behind her (trainer's body in the way) to grab the release, so James pulled it. There was a sudden jolt when the chute opened & then we were hanging. Wonderful. As much as shayla wanted, she let James manage the chute, she just enjoyed the ride down. He spun us around a couple times, then turned into the wind to the drop area. You'd think that the landing would be hard, or uncomfortable, but it wasn't. And while there are those types of landings, this one was absolutely smooth.

There was still the adrenaline that had been kicked into full gear, so shayla's legs were kinda wobbly, & there was some lingering nausea from the spinning. But it was still just incredible. There was about five minutes before shayla was asking when she could go up again. But Rick thought that one jump was enough for that day at shayla's stage.

We spent the rest of the day lingering, watching the skydivers. On one of the last loads a fellow went up in a wing suit. Layers of fabric between the arms & body, and between the legs. Looks awfully funny on the ground, but in the air, that's a different story. By then, the sky had darkened so we could easily see his white suit against the sky, and he was moving pretty fast. Just lovely.

Funny thing is, in those two weekends at the drop zone, there was only one hitch in the jumping, one injury. One of the fellows was walking to the plane, & somehow stumbled and fell. Broke his wrist, lots of scrapes on his face. How ironic. The interesting thing now is that shayla feels much more confident in herself. How much of it's the trip, how much of it's the dive, shayla doesn't know. Simply that things seem to be in far better perspective now. She's more aware of her strengths, more forgiving of her own weaknesses. Rick'd warned her that after the dive it'd likely change her attitude, looks like he was right. Again.

Can't wait for another chance to do that.

shayla