Parachuting has always been a dream of mine, one of the things I knew I would try one day. I know that arranging experiences often takes a few weeks, so when I enquired about tandem skydiving, I was expecting something similar. However, a quarter of an hour after sending the email, I got a call from the gentleman at the airport saying that a spot had opened up for Saturday. It was Thursday... A happy coincidence, I have to change my plans a bit, but why not, I'm in! When the tandem calls, there's no time to hesitate.
The combination of fear and excitement before the jump
I've done a few adrenaline jumping parades, bungee jumping, bungee swinging in a huge canyon, ziplining and more... yet Saturday morning was different than usual. I felt a slight flutter in my stomach, and when I put my contacts in my eyes, my fingers twitched as if I were having withdrawal.
But at the same time, I was looking forward to being a kid. So when we arrived at the airport, the shivering miraculously disappeared. The jokes and banter with the skydiving instructors began, I put on my jumpsuit, signed that I was doing this at my own risk and went through a short briefing. Most important was the position of the banana and the information that they would lend me the controls for a while.
They're going to lend me the controls of the parachute! It's a dream come true.
This is a one-way ticket... No one comes back down on the plane.
Then our plane arrived and we got on it. Two instructors, two jumpers, and a pilot... it was hilarious during the scenic flight, which lasted about 20 minutes.
"Approximately what time do you jump?" "My first time and my colleague's second."
"And what if someone panics?" "They mustn't panic, although we've had one lady faint and occasionally we get vomited on..."
Super...
The main thing is to enjoy it
Those are the kind of things that put your mind at ease because you just laugh and tell yourself that they're pros who enjoy it, have been jumping for years (in fact, they were first at the airport when they were about 15), and everything is secured for multiple times. During the flight, the morning jitters came back anyway, after all I was about to jump out of the plane at about 3500 thousand feet. That's two Sněžkas!
Let's do it!
But by the time we heard the command to jump, had our goggles on and were slowly moving towards the door, the shake was there and I was just looking forward to it. Then we jumped
and enjoyed about 40 seconds of freefall... that was awesome! It flies incredibly fast, you feel the wind, the energy, the buzz and the excitement. It's a complete euphoria, a rush of emotions that you can't describe.
Then the parachute opened and the magical sightseeing flight back to earth began. Did you know that up there, high above the ground, you can hear it pretty well? And that the view is incredibly beautiful up there? It's not for nothing that they say a bird's eye view of the earth is one of the most beautiful. During the flight, I could even steer the parachute and make some awesome mega-quick turns towards the ground. Although they shortened the flight time a bit, it was definitely worth it.
But suddenly we were close to the ground, I handed the parachute controls back to Radek, lifted my feet and a smooth landing ensued.
Supeeeeer, I want more!
A parachute jump, a flight at speeds of up to 200 km/h, almost a minute of free fall and the energy charge, it's so addictive that it's just not enough once. She wants to do it again and again, maybe next time on her own, as part of a skydiving course, but that's the music of the future.
After the tandem skydive, I was grinning from ear to ear like a fool for hours. Unforgettable experience, which was perfected by tandem pilot Radek, his jokes and perfect attitude.
Thanks!
And for those of you who haven't jumped yet, go for it! It's perfectly safe and the euphoria is priceless! It's the perfect reboot and energy boost for a long time.
Jump in head first! You can enjoy Tandem skydiving anywhere in the Czech Republic, from Prague to Příbram to Prostejov.
