Skydiving

It is Saturday, October 22, 2011. You can feel the excitement as you walk up to the large gray airplane hanger. A man greets you as you approach the welcome stand. Archway Skydiving is located in Vandalia, Illinois, about 25 minutes away from Springfield by car. According to owner Jason Mark, Archway averages about 12,000 jumps per year. The most important thing about running a skydiving business is making sure that all of your safety guidelines and equipment are up to date with the United States Parachute Association's standards.

Near the welcome stand to the left, I see an apparently seasoned jumper doing some quick practice maneuvers while waiting for his airplane to leave. "I made my first jump this past June. I've been trying to jump twice per month since then", says Brandon of Springfield. "The first jump you do takes the most work... and guts", he says. "For my first time, I needed to take over four hours of training courses first; they cost $170. It was worth it, though. It's the greatest adrenaline rush I could ask for." According to Brandon, now with his experience, he doesn't need much planning to prepare for a jump. "If I wanted to, I could pretty much just show up at 8 AM and sign in and then jump as many times as I can. It costs me forty dollars per jump now, and I typically jump about 4 times each time I visit."

Just walking away from the stand nervously is first time jumper, Kelly, also from Springfield. Kelly is a bit anxious about her first jump out of an airplane. It is for this reason that she was advised to try a tandem jump for her first time. A tandem jump is when one skydives while he or she is attached to the instructor. This allows for one to jump with less training and more comfort that one will be safe. This is because the instructor is right there to pull your chord in case anything goes wrong or you freeze up. "I was really excited the whole ride out here. Now I'm just so nervous now that we are here", Kelly states. "This will be the most extreme thing I've ever done."

There are many precautions one must take before attempting skydiving. It is vital that you and at least two instructors have checked that all equipment is packaged and stored correctly. It is also important to be trained by a USPA rated instructor in the areas of exiting, canopy control, and emergency procedures. These are all especially important if one is jumping solo, as there will be no instructor there to rectify mistakes. If one is jumping tandem, the experience of the instructor can make up for the lack of experience of jumper.

After watching several people jump, I have decided that the best place for me to enjoy this seemingly exhilarating sport would be on the ground. Everyone who I saw jumped had a great time today. However, I'm not quite sure that parachutes are the dice I would want to be gambling with. Accidents are not 100% avoidable even with the most up to date equipment.