We were falling.
I couldn’t hear anything. I know the wind was rushing, but I only remember silence. If Mike was saying anything, I didn’t hear it.
My panic was gone. The point of no return had passed. Oddly I felt safe, although I’m not sure how much my eyes were opened.

At one point I could tell we were head down. I think we somersaulted at least once before we arrived at the position with Mike above me and my face and stomach facing the ground.

He reached under to me and pulled my arms out of the crossed position that I had faithfully held up to that point. I became more aware of my surroundings, or lack thereof. Then I was delighted. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I was no longer scared as I plummeted 2 ½ miles toward the earth.

Mike pointed out the videographer and I smiled and waved for the pictures. I yahooed like you might as a face-painted football fan. There were no appropriate words to scream, but screaming was appropriate. At one point it occurred to me that I should keep my mouth shut – bugs, or those fattening clouds. The wind reminded me of riding on a motorcycle where it is a good idea to keep your mouth shut. I think we were way above any bugs though.

Up in the plane I had asked Mike if I could pull the pin to release the chute. Of course I could, but I had to do it at 5,000 feet. He would draw my attention to the altimeter at 6,000 feet which would mean I would have about 5 seconds to find the ripcord and pull it. I told him that, although I really wanted to pull it, I would not be mad at all if he beat me to it. I wanted the cord pulled at the right time more than I cared if I did it myself.

It’s a good thing I clarified that, because I was totally not paying attention to the altimeter. I don’t remember the ground looking 9,000 feet closer. It seemed like we had been falling and falling without going anywhere. It was probably only a minute or less of free fall.

I don’t remember if Mike tried to get my attention or warn me that the chute was about to open, but the sudden change in speed was startling. The harness strap across my chest was now across my neck, which was a bit uncomfortable. My feet went flying up in front of me. You can see in the picture that one of my sneakers had come untied. Can you imagine if you lived near this skydive place? I bet you do get random shoes and stuff dropped down in your yard.

The videographer continued to freefall so he could beat me to the ground. He vanished from sight. Now that I was floating, I could look around more and see the other chutes blossoming against the blue around me. This part was so cool. Mike helped me lift my goggles for a clearer view for the rest of the drop.

Mike gave me the looped lanyards that steer the chute, one for each wrist. He was higher than I and kept his hands on the lanyards above the loops. To demonstrate how they worked, Mike yanked down on the right lanyard. We quickly turned into a psychotic spin. Mike yelled, “Look at the horizon!” I tried, but it wasn’t really horizontal. It was kind of teetering and I was suddenly aware of my stomach again.

He yanked the left cord and “unwound” us in the opposite direction. Cool! When I do it again, I definitely want to spin. It was way cooler than any ride I’ve ever been on. There is none of the jarring rattling, only smooth, very fast movements. The rest of the fall with the chute opened probably took 5 more minutes, for about a 6 minute “ride.” How long have you waited at an amusement park for a shorter ride that left you feeling like you had been in a car accident?

I saw the landing bullseye on the ground as we closed in. After the chute was open, Mike instructed me about the landing maneuvers and we practiced. I was still so excited that it was hard to concentrate on the simplest instructions. The lanyards take a lot of arm strength to control. Perhaps I should have been more afraid, but I was not nervous of the landing. We seemed to just step down onto the ground, even though I did pull my lanyards too soon. We landed on our feet, took off our helmets and loosened the harnesses.

Somehow Jeff, who jumped out before me, landed after me. I walked over to him to see how thrilled he was. You can’t skydive and be unimpressed. We immediately decided that we wanted to do it again, although not today. He is planning on trying the next jump not tandem. I guess being harnessed to another guy is different for a guy than a girl. He asked me if I wanted to do an independent jump.

“Hell no,” I immediately responded. I might not have exited the airplane if I wasn’t tandem. I might not have pulled my cord in time. The lanyards were difficult to pull and I’m not sure how well I could have steered into the landing zone. I wanted to go again, but like riding a motorcycle, I am content to be the passenger. That way I can relax more and enjoy the scenery.