Sky Diving

Giving a rating of one to ten for the most craziest things I’ve done till date, this one is sure up there. But somehow I can’t help but feel as fresh as a person being given a second chance to live!

Sky diving is perhaps one of those few extreme sports where the chances of injury are really low – it’s more like life or death actually! For the uninitiated tandem jumping is a lazy form (novice is the more appropriate word) of sky diving. A routine computer professional like me can only hope to get a bit of adrenalin rush with such a sport! Besides it’s fun too, in it’s own crazy sort of way.

I went to Osterburken following the instructions of my friends and made arrangements for someone from the skydiving camp to pick me up. The camp itself is located in a scenic place (perhaps it’s the time of the year). To make things more beautiful the day’s weather was picture perfect for this type of sport – scattered clouds in the sky, absolutely no wind and very good sunshine. What more could one ask for!

My “tandem master” was a guy with 13 years experience in his field of work. He made me feel at comfort as soon as I met him. I watched few of the jumps that happened before my dive (video below) to gain some ground knowledge as to how things happen.

I was even theoretically given some basic idea of how to behave while boarding the plane, on air and while landing. My tandem master made it really simple:

1. Coordinate with him at all times no matter how strange the instructions may seem.
2. General posture – Keep the body arched (chin up and legs twisted up – the “banana” posture).
3. Lift the legs while landing.
4. Most importantly keep smiling throughout the jump!

The last one was the best advise for me, as it not only reduced my nervousness but (I guess) also made me look cheerful in the video coverage 😉 Once I was through with these essential guidance I was wrapped in my jump suit, given some final dos and dont’s before I followed my tandem master to the plane.