I did SKYDIVING!!!

(My pics of skydiving:
http://picasaweb.google.com/it.rahul/Skydiving
Small video taken by my camera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF8BRvZwVVk
P.S. The pics have been uploades and video taken by the skydive-centre would be coming soon :)

Yeahhhhh, I DID SKYDIVING… another one of my accomplishments, lol. I mean it really feels like an achievement when you do it, it feels great. Jumping from a flying airplane at the height of 10000 feet in sky, wow!!! A free fall at the speed of 120 mph (that is approximately 200 Km/hr), wow-wow!!!

Was I scared? Yes I was, when they show you that video stating “This is a dangerous sport where you may get seriously injured or even killed. And no one but you yourself is responsible for any accidents. You do not have any right to any claim or sue anyone”. By the way, who would like an opportunity to die just because they’ll get to sue someone, it hardly happens. But its great fun and great fun comes at a price.

As many of you may know, I love adventure sports. I have never been interested in outdoor sports in general (yeah, I am not a BIG fan of cricket either… and I am not sorry for it). But a rush of adrenaline when you do something crazy, I love that. Adventure sports are my deal. I love going to adventure/fun parks too, I mean rides can be crazy but they are fun. The rides in US are anyways amazing. I have been to Six Flags park, Kings Dominion park and also to the rides in Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas. I have done rafting, rock climbing, skiing, trekking and Scuba Diving too (in Philippines). I want to do these again and many other new adventure sports stuff too, I will.

So, let’s talk a bit about my experience with skydiving. I did skydiving at Butler in Missouri (it’s a state in US, near Kansas). The place is known as SkydiveKC, and it’s good. It is around 1 and ½ hour from Kansas City, my Sonata did the driving. We were 3 friends out of which only 2 were doing it, after all it’s not everyone’s plate of cake. We were supposed to be there at noon and I did manage that (for me being somewhere at noon on a Sunday is almost like impossible, I am actually used to waking-up after noon on weekends). You have to go through a small training. They’ll show you 2 videos, one about all the stuff you need to know and the other about the risks involved that anything may happen to you and no one is responsible. The video is kind of scary, may make you upset.

But believe me it is not as bad in actual. Jumping out of the plane seems the scariest part, I mean jumping out of a plane flying at the height of 10000 feet seems ridiculous. Why would anyone ever do that?? But we humans do lots of crazy stuff just for the feel and zeal of it I guess. Just to prove to ourselves that we can go to extreme and try doing anything possible or maybe impossible in this world. That’s why we are different and that’s why we are superior. Apart from that, no airplane is perfect (no machine is perfect after all). So little bit of experience with jumping form a plane might be helpful, lol. Sorry, no jokes here… but the whole thing is just so great.

I had opted for a ‘Tandem jump’ package where you jump with a professional trained diver/instructor. That’s the only way you can do your first skydive, unless you are in an emergency situation while you are on a flight and you might be asked to jump. Maybe you don’t have to pay for that jump, but I am sure that is not going to be any fun. I am not even sure if they give you any parachutes to jump. They always talk about using that life jacket and I guess they just want you to jump in water, damn!!! Anyways, the Tandem jump comes for $205, plus $95 for video & photos. Another diver jumps with you to take your photos & video too. I’ll share them soon.

After the training, they tell a bit about how to sit in plane & how to get out etc. You should listen carefully and follow it, I did. Then I got suited up in the jump suit and got into the plane. Ride to 10,000 feet is little boring, it takes long and you just have to sit through waiting for jump. But once the doors open at the height, it’s totally different. I could feel the wind striking my face & I could see the height I was at… way above the ground. And I could see that I was about to jump from a plane. Hanging at the door before jump, I felt ‘is it the right thing to do’, lol. However after jumping from the plane there was no scary falling sensation, it’s more like a floating or flying sensation. I was flying in the air. The free fall just lasts for around 30-40 seconds and then the parachute opens up. By the time you realize what happened, it’s over; but still its amazing FUN. I could feel flying in air & I could feel the thrill. I also did a 360 degree spin during free fall, that’s cool. I also did a spin while coming down hanging to parachute, that’s cool too. Then I landed safe & fine, totally excited & happy.

My instructor was John Paul, he was pretty good. His son Chris was the cameraman. They together own the place & do pretty well. I just hope they had better planes and could do more height, would be way more fun. I would surely say that if you want thrill, you should definitely try Skydiving. It’s a great thing. I would love to do it more & maybe even get certified sometime in future. I want to do Scuba certification too (yeah, wanting is easy… so it’s good to want at least). Overall, it was really AWESOME & AMAZING!!!!

SO, that’s pretty much it for right now. I know I am damn slow at writing blogs. That is really bad and I am sorry for it, I am really trying to improve that. The problem is I am really busy these days and writing a blog takes long time for me. I don’t just write it, I think & write and edit & improvise to make it look better for myself and my readers. Thanks for reading it & enjoying my experiences. I still have to write about my great CHICAGO Trip and some new movies I saw (Mummy-3, Tropic Thunder, Death Racer). Would try to pen them down soon.

So please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENTING as well please). This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck!!!!!

Happy Independence Day & Hapy Rakshabandhan

A Happy Independence day to all My fellow Indians!!

Happy Rakshabandhan to my sweet sister Kavita!!!!!!!