In
Greek mythology, the son of a master craftsman named Icarus attempted to fly by
the means of wings constructed of feathers held together by wax. In his excitement of flight he flew too
close to the sun and the wax holding his wings together melted. He fell from the sky to his death. When I think of this fable I imagine what the
free-fall from the sky felt like for him; I am significantly less interested in
his landing. For all human history many
have had the desire of being able to fly. This
high flying ambition has led to numerous methods of extreme adventure. I will compare two methods I have personally
tried; sky-diving and bungee jumping. The following material is offered, based on personal experience.
When my father was
alive he was a very well-known professional sky-diver. He had completed thousands of successful
jumps in his lifetime. Watching home
movies and reading newspaper clippings of his exhibition jumps instilled a burning
desire inside of me to feel what he felt.
I discovered an adrenaline based, possibly genetic obsession with flying
through the sky at an intense speed. I
needed to know if I was exactly like my father.
My sky-diving jump took place in Illinois at
Skydive Chicago which at the time was known as one of the best skydiving centers
in the Midwest. The first jump is done
either with a tandem instructor or static line.
My jump was with a tandem instructor.
Tandem sky-diving is when the student sky-diver is connected to a
harness attached to a tandem instructor. The instructor guides the student
through the entire jump from exiting the aircraft through free-fall, piloting
the canopy, and landing. This type of
jump requires what the experts consider minimal instruction before making the jump. I specifically recall the instruction being
very informative and lasting approximately two and a half hours. The name of my instructor was Goat. I am not sure why that is relevant but I distinctly
remember an overwhelming sense of concern for my safety when I met him for the
first time. I was not sure I could take a
“goat” seriously as an instructor. When
he saw my name on the sign-up sheet he asked if I was related to a man named Richard
Stevenson. He knew my father personally
and told me about a few of the most outstanding jumps they did together. At that point any concern I may have been feeling for my
safety at that point was immediately distinguished.
When you jump from
an airplane, it is difficult to tell visually that you are descending and for
the majority of jumps, you leave an airplane that is moving something close to
terminal velocity which is around one hundred and ten miles per hour to one hundred and twenty miles per hour, there is absolutely
no feeling of falling; your direction changes gradually from
"forward" to "down" there is no distinct sensation of dropping.
The free-fall feels more like flying
than falling.
My first Bungee
jump was done in the Wisconsin Dells at a place called Extreme World. This location has been closed since then due
to operator error and lack of safety that resulted in critically injuring a 12 year
old girl while her family watched in horror.
I felt that the people who worked
there seemed to lack concern for my fears and concerns for safety. They appeared overly confident in what they
were doing when strapping me into the harness. There was absolutely no training
or instruction offered whatsoever. The
rate of speed they rushed me through the process was as if they wanted to
prevent me from changing my mind. I had
no choice but to assume they knew what they were doing. I recall standing on the edge and looking
down. I could see the ground and the
faces of my friends watching me in complete fear; I could almost read their
lips. I remembered the day I jumped out
of the airplane. I could not see the ground through the clouds; it felt peaceful
in comparison to what I was feeling with this huge heavy cord dangling in the
wind beneath my feet. I remember
thinking it would catch the wind a pull me off of the platform as I stood there
trembling in fear. The operator told me
to put my arms out in front of me and he grabbed my fist and pulled me off of
the platform. It was a very quick
experience for me. I remember wanting desperately to scream and
not being able to. My perception was
that I really felt like I was falling; I had that feeling you get in your
stomach as well as the visual cues of the ground screaming towards me at a high
rate of speed. As the bungee cord slowed
me down I was hanging upside down, it felt like the contents of my stomach
continued moving downward at a somewhat faster pace. After the elastic took effect and the fall was
no longer a free fall, I felt, surprisingly secure in the fact that the
equipment my life was hanging on was actually trustworthy. This feeling continued until my bungee cord
was motionless. I was in shock and
wanted nothing more than to be safely on the ground. The operator then lowered me to the ground as
I uncomfortably hung upside down with the blood rushing to my head.
Bungee jumping was
a completely different experience for me. It is significantly scarier, despite the fact
that the jump is 34 times shorter in length. The bungee jump was about 230
feet. The sky-dive was an 8,000-foot plunge. Although the jumps themselves lasted about 60
seconds each, the sky-dive had an overwhelming calming factor after the speed
of flying through the sky. As soon as
the parachute opens, everything becomes silent as you approach the Earth. I felt like an astronaut landing on this planet
for the first time. There was green and blue everywhere and I could see the
outlines of the fields and roads below me as if I were looking down at a
topographical map.
As I mentioned
before, sky-diving involves quite a bit more preparation and participation by
the jumpers. The more informed you are, the
calmer you become. It helps alleviate the
stress you go through when you know you are venturing into an unfamiliar
environment. Bungee jumping is much more
like an amusement park ride in the sense that you just get strapped in and off
you go and then it is over before you know it.
There is no doubt
in my mind that I would sky-dive again.
It gave me a peaceful feeling I have found difficult to match as well as
an adventurous respect for my father. It
defined an addiction to adrenaline and understanding for my personal need for
adventure. I plan to sky-dive least one
more time before I die of old age. Although
I am glad I have done both, I am not entirely sure whether or not I would ever
bungee jump again.
Tandem Sky-diving
Bungee jumping
