#1 - Indoor Skydiving

I figured I should kick off the "40 Best Things" quest with a bang. On February 6th we headed up to Denver to go indoor skydiving. "We" consisted of my immediate family, our 8 year old foster boy and my best friend, Carol, who had flown in from Orlando for the weekend.

I LOVE the feeling of freefall. Amusement park rides that include any type of freefall are just awesome. In the summer of 2008 I rode The Griffin rollercoaster at Busch Gardens. This rollercoaster takes you to the crest of a vertical hill, suspends the cart right at the edge, and then suddenly drops you. It was exhilirating! I could have ridden that thing all day. I've also enjoyed repelling the couple times I've done it. So, I figured I skydiving would be the ultimate in free fall.

My problem, however, with actual skydiving is the whole "jump out of a plane" aspect. I just can't see myself doing that. It defies every survival instinct in the human body. Every time I've been in an experience that requires an "over the edge" commitment, my mind screams to me "Don't do it!" When I repelled for the first time, I literally had to force my body to go over the edge in spite of all the objections my brain was tossing out. While vacationing in Hawaii a couple years ago, I stood at the edge of a high waterfall, intending to jump into the pool of water below. Again, my brain kept advising me against such a foolish decision. It took my then-13 year old daugther, Victoria, jumping first to get me to finally go over the edge. The experience was amazing, but that initial hesitation was incredibly strong. So, I don't think I could actually get myself to jump out of a plane. The only way I think I could manage to leave the safety of the fuselage would be to go on a tandem jump - and someday I might actually do that.

But, for my 40th birthday I was very happy to settle for indoor skydiving. Here's a very basic description of how it works: a huge fan blows you off the ground. I figured I would be OK with that. So, we all headed up to SkyVentures in Parker, Colorado to give it a try.

The skydiving takes place in circular chamber surrounded by glass windows. Participants are taught the basics of body position prior to starting their first "dive." The position of the arms, legs and chin all impact the "bouyancy" of the diver. The tiniest movement can send you straight down to the floor, soaring high above the instructor or rapidly drifting forward or backward.

Each person's total "diving" time consists of 3 minutes, broken down into two 1.5 minute sessions. I know that doesn't sound like much, but an actual skydiver usually has about 35 seconds of freefall before deploying the parachute. An instructor is in the room with the diver, directing the diver's body movements and to help keep the diver centered.

Being the birthday girl, I got to go first. To begin the session, the diver stands in the doorway and then leans into the room. The instructor "catches" the diver and thus begins the session. I had no anxiety whatsoever about starting the session. Soon I was airborne, and my first reaction was not at all what I expected. I was overwhelmed by the roaring wind blowing up my nose! I was not expecting that at all, and it made it a big difficult to breathe. Then again, we were told that the airspeed is right around 110-120mph (terminal velocity is 120 mph) and the fans are driven by four 300hp engines, so I guess I should not really have been surprised. If any of your would like to experience a similar sensation, I suggest turning on a leafblower and holding it directly under your nose. It is not necessarily a pleasant experience.

Once I got accustomed to the hurricane occurring in my sinus passages, I began to concentrate on body movement. It really took a great deal of concentration to maintain the proper position. The first session is basically a familiarization session, and it seems that just about the time you figure out how to control your body, the session is over. During my second session I did a much better job controling my position. My instructor, Jason, even suggested I try a spin by moving my arms. I quickly found myself spinning around with no ability to stop! Fortunatley, Jason quickly intervened, stopped my spin and steered me to the door. My indoor skydiving experience had ended too soon!

I enjoyed the adventure a great deal. Actually, I had as much fun watching everyone in our party bobble around during their sessions as much as I enjoyed flying. We all were sympathetic for poor 6'3", 210 lb. Craig, as he had a hard time staying airborne. You could actually hear them crank up the fan as he entered the chamber, yet each time he flew it took most of the session for them to find the appropriate airspeed for him.

Overall, it was a fantastic start to my 40 new experiences. I am excited to see what the rest of the year holds for me!