Skydiving

One of the most common items on a person’s bucket list is skydiving. But, not many people know much about it. What training do you need? How safe is it? If you have these questions, Jake’s here to explain the details of skydiving so you can make your bucket list a reality. 

By Jake Sonderman

What is the most common item on everyone’s bucket list? If I had to guess, I’d say skydiving. Going on a skydive instantly gives you the badge of bravery because skydiving is dangerous, right? Well, not really. The United States Parachute Association reported 15 fatal skydiving accidents in 3.3 million total jumps (uspa.org). That is about a 0.000005% chance of a fatal accident. For reference, there is about a 1% chance that any individual will be in a fatal car accident in their lifetime (valiente mott). That is also not considering that usually, in cases of car accidents and parachuting, the fatalities are caused by a lack of judgement–for example not pulling your parachute until much too late or not wearing a seatbelt. While it is not likely you will die from skydiving, it is still pretty agreed upon that it takes a great deal of guts to jump out of a plane. Now that you see that it is safe to skydive, let’s take a look at what skydiving looks like.

Skydiving Myths

There are a couple myths associated with skydiving that have to be dispelled. For one, when you pull your parachute, you do not go up. It of course looks like you do because you are slowing down so fast, but you don’t go up. Another myth without much foundation is that you can’t breathe when you go skydiving. If you are skydiving from heights higher than 12,500 feet (which you probably won’t your first time), you will have to wear an oxygen mask (RyanHeitsmith). The wind may take your breath away, but, typically, you can breathe, with no oxygen tank or anything, when you skydive. Lastly, on tandem skydives, where you are attached to an instructor, you do have to do some things; you don’t get to sit back and relax the whole time. You will have to make sure your body is in the right position for where you are, whether that’s jumping out of the plane, in the air, or landing. 

What Skydiving Looks Like

Likely for your first dive you will do a tandem dive. This is common for people who want to skydive once just for the thrill. If you are looking to skydive more regularly, then an Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) is what you want to do. For a tandem skydive, you will probably train about 30 minutes and then go up and jump. For an AFF, you will be in a class all day, and then jump with two instructors, who will make sure you do everything correctly like pulling your chute at the right time and landing in the drop zone. This is a good option if you want to eventually jump on your own. 

How Much Does it Cost?

While it would make sense if it was much more expensive in California (like pretty much everything), skydiving prices are relatively similar across the country. For a normal tandem dive, it will cost around $200. For an AFF, it will be closer to $350. This is just the cost of the dive though, and you will likely want pictures and video which will be around another $100. There are likely some options that will appear cheaper, but either these options will add on extra fees, or they cut some corners, so it is probably best to resign yourself to the standard price. There are plenty of  places to dive on the west coast, and there is one pretty close to Palm Springs called Skydive West Coast in the San Bernardino area. Most places require you to be 16 and up to jump. 

So now, what’s stopping you?

P.S. Here’s a video of skydiver Luke Aikins diving 25,000 feet into a 100×100 foot net. 

Sources:

Skydiving Basics

The Chances of Dying in a Car Crash – Valiente Mott

https://www.seeker.com/how-common-are-skydiving-accidents-1765419215.html

Skydiving Tips: 6 Things To Know Before You Go

https://www.skydivewestcoast.com/

Bucket List Editor: Sara Habibipour