Skydiving

Skydiving is jumping out of an airplane with a parachute on your back and landing safely on the ground after an exhilarating rush. The time between exiting the airplane and opening the parachute is called "free fall." Either you like heights or you don't. Either you get wistful as you watch birds soaring and sea gulls diving straight down to the water, or you don't. Skydiving takes you down at as fast as 1000 ft/min during freefall, and at about 170 ft/min during descent with the parachute.

Skydiving: Your Chance to Get Away From it All

If you ever watched any of the Star Trek movies, you might remember the one when Kirk and McCoy and a couple others are stepping into the transporter unit to beam down to the Genesis planet. "Where are we going?" protests McCoy. "Where they went," Kirk tells him. "What if they went nowhere?" McCoy protests again. "Then this is your big chance to get away from it all," replied Kirk. Getting away from it all might best capture the feeling of skydiving.

You must be at least 16 years old for skydiving. More often, the requirement is 18. There is no age maximum. You must be in reasonably good physical shape. If you weigh 200 pounds or less, you're fine. If more, it will depend.

You'll wear about 25 pounds of equipment, jump out of the airplane, adjust your parachute, and land. You'll encounter temperature changes (as many 30° Fahrenheit), and pressure changes (the usual atmospheric ones in any airplane flight). You'll also have what might be the thrill of a lifetime.