skydiving advice column

(Written by ChutingStar's Henry Kochen.)

There is a conversation that happens at almost every drop zone, but rarely out loud. A skydiver walks in after weeks, or even months, away from the sport. They smile, catch up with friends, check the weather, and start putting on their gear.

On the outside, everything looks normal. On the inside, they're wondering: "Why am I so nervous?" Or even worse… "Do I even like skydiving anymore?"

If you've ever had those thoughts, you're not alone. In fact, I would argue that nearly every experienced skydiver has experienced them at some point. The difference is that most don't talk about it because there's an unspoken expectation that experience should eliminate fear. It doesn't.

Fear Doesn't Disappear, It Changes
When we're students, our fear is obvious. We're afraid of leaving the airplane. We're afraid of making mistakes. We're afraid of the unknown. As we gain experience, those fears evolve. We become more comfortable with freefall and canopy flight, but we also gain something else: perspective.

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On a gusty day this past weekend, three jumpers of different skill levels decided they needed to make a skydive even though tandem instructors along with numerous experienced jumpers had made the decision to wait for the winds to calm down. The winds were gusting from 7-25 knots and switching directions 100 degrees. The jumper experience level ranged from about 100 to 2,000 jumps. Amazingly enough, it was actually the most experienced jumper who in the end made the worst decision when coming in for landing. A Cessna 205 took the three jumpers up. The spot, skydives and deployments went pretty much as planned. The two lower-experienced jumpers managed to make a little canopy traffic for themselves on landing. With only three people on the load, canopy traffic should be nil if you pay attention to the other jumpers under canopy. Continue reading →