the Cost of Skydiving

MY girlfriend took me skydiving for me birthday last year. I had never been before and it looked like fun. I went for a tandem jump that cost $209.00. The fee covered the jump, equipment rental (jumpsuit, goggles, altimeter, and harness), and training course. The training course lasted approxiamtely sixty minutes and covered the proper way to exit the plane, body technique, and how to control the parachute once you have pulled the ripcord. Then...you jump!

I DID have a lot of fun skydiving. However, it was a lot of work for forty five seconds of fun. We drove for an hour to get there. I was in a class for an hour. I spent nearly an hour getting in the plane and flying into position. Then in the blink of an eye it was over. Of course, it was the most thrilling blink I have ever taken, but I expected it to take a little longer.

If you absolutely must jump out of an airplane, then there is no true substitute. However, since then I have gone to an indoor vertical wind tunnel twice. It cost much less than skydiving and it lasts three times as long. It doesn't require much training and you can do more tricks.