A Review of the Ultimate Rush: Skydiving!

Before I continue any further, the first thing you should know about me is my fear, aside from a loved-one passing away, is heights; I am terrified! The thought of being in a situation where I am X-amount of feet above the ground, is frightening.

It was one year ago when I came to the realization that life is short; tomorrow is not guaranteed. I don’t know why I came to this realization, or how, but I did. Of course I knew/know that death will one day come for everyone, but at that instant, I had an epiphany; seeing life differently, realizing that life is a precious gift. I made a decision that for the rest of my life, I would live with no regrets. I would live without wondering “what if.” And that is what I’ve been doing ever since.

The first thing I did was something I’ve always wanted to do: ride in a hot air balloon. I did this during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, in Albuquerque, NM. The experience was unreal, and felt magical. I will write a Hub about it in the future, and will include photos, once they come in from the photographer.

My fear of heights did not go away from riding in a hot air balloon. But, I survived the experience without facing any major anxiety. I figured that if I lived through a hot air balloon ride, I can continue pushing myself, doing things that faced my fear of heights. What is the next thing I wanted to do before I died? Skydiving!

In June of this year, I went to Las Vegas, NV, for EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival). As my friends and I were planning the trip, I recalled a friend skydiving in Vegas, the year before. That is when the idea was planted in my head. Skydiving in Vegas? Why not?

I was told that my friend used a company called Vegas Extreme Skydiving. I found their website, and spent some time reviewing it. I chose to go with the same company because my friend lived through the experience, so that was obviously a positive! I also spent a good amount of time looking at skydiving videos on YouTube. I came across this video:

This was/is my favorite video because it shows various types of individuals skydiving; they all seemed to enjoy the experience. Seeing this video got me really excited to skydive.

Fast forward to a month.

I was in Las Vegas, NV, having the time of my life at EDC. The trip was going perfect, except one thing was missing: skydiving. I had already told all my family and friends that I would be jumping out of an airplane, during my Vegas trip. I couldn’t imagine coming home, being asked how skydiving was, and having to tell everyone that I never did it. I left home saying I was going skydiving; I have to go skydiving. I called Vegas Extreme Skydiving, and reserved two spots. A friend and I were told to go to the east entrance of MGM Grand, at 6:45 am, and a van would pick us up. At that moment, the reality sunk in: In less than 24 hours, I am going to jump out of an airplane.

That night was the final night at EDC. I left the event around 2 am, and headed back to my hotel; I figured that it was a good idea to get a couple hours of sleep before the big jump. The friend that was going skydiving with me stayed at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the venue where EDC was. I went to sleep, completely anxious, and very worried.

I woke up at 5 am and started to get ready. That is when I noticed my friend had not returned to the hotel room! EDC shut down each morning at 6 am, so I guessed that he must have still been at the event. It wasn’t until I was leaving my hotel room, around 6:15 am, that my friend got to the room. He was in no condition to go skydiving, being completely exhausted from the wildness that comes with EDC, and was still drunk. I had to make the decision: skip skydiving, or do the experience alone. I chose the latter. I took a taxi from my hotel, Vdara, to CVS, which was only 0.3 miles away. I know, they’re close to each other, and an easy walk, but I was running late, and had to get to CVS quickly.

I arrived at CVS with a list of a few items I needed: yogurt, lip balm, socks, and alcohol. Yes, alcohol. I didn’t want to get drunk. I just wanted to catch a quick buzz; a little liquid courage to help ease my nerves. To my surprise, CVS did not have miniatures. The clerk told me that hotel gift shops sell miniatures. I walked as fast as I could to MGM Grand. I arrived at a side entrance of the hotel at around 6:40 am. There was no way I could find the gift shop, and make it in time to meet the shuttle. I had to do the jump, 100% clear minded.

There were two shuttles waiting for me, and my fellow skydivers to arrive. As expected, I was the only individual that didn’t have a friend and/or family with them for mutual support. I was commended for doing the jump alone.

While we waited for the other stragglers to arrive, we were given paperwork to fill out.

It is both interesting and scary to sign a liability waver indicating that the company is not responsible for death. But, if you want to go skydiving, you have to sign your life away.

The shuttles began to drive. As we finished the paperwork, a film started playing. It gave basic instructions on how to stand correctly at the edge of the plane. It also talked about other stuff that I can’t recall, mainly because I was anxiously looking out of the window, wondering when we would get to the desired location. The ride ended up taking 40 minutes, but at that moment, it felt like an eternity.

Finally, we arrived.

Once we got into the building, a worker started calling out names. My name was called out first, out of the 22 other brave souls. I was told that I needed to pay the fees. I paid a total of $293, which included a video to capture my experience. Then, I was handed a skydiving suit, a harness, and a pair of tennis shoes (I had flip flops on, that’s why I bought socks atsuit CVS). What else was significant about my name being called first? If you guessed that it meant I was going skydiving first, you are right! I was very happy that I was going to jump first. I couldn’t imagine going last; that would have been pure torture, and I would have probably got sick to my stomach, due to the anticipation.

Because there was only one plane, we were all placed in groups. In my group, there were a total of three of us. We got on our suits, our harnesses, our shoes, and locked up our personal belongs in a locker. We then met with our instructors for a few minutes. My instructor showed me how to stand at the edge of the plane, and how to position my legs and arms, once we jumped. Then, it was time to go. He turned on the video camera the instant we walked outside. Me, the other two women, and our instructors, walked to the front of the plane. My instructor and I were the last to enter the plane, due to me going first (I had to sit at the front of the plane).

Back at home, a friend told me that the plane ride was the worst part of the experience, due to the anticipation felt. In my opinion, it was not the worst part. I will admit that the plane ride felt like it was never going to end, though.

As we were getting closer to the desired altitude of 15,000 feet, my instructor connected my harness to his, and had me sit on his lap. I asked him, "Please check again that we are securely connected." After all, this is a situation where it doesn't hurt to double check. He then told me, “You know, if you’re scared, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to jump.” I told him, “I'm doing this!”

Finally, we reached 15,000 feet. It was time to jump! Ahhhhh!!!!

My instructor and I stood at the edge of the plane. I crossed my arms, planted my feet, bent my knees, and leaned back. Standing at the edge of the plane, was the scariest part of the experience for me. I am one that hardly uses foul language, but at that moment, my thought was, “Oh f&!#, I am really high up!” Just as that thought came, my instructor and I were out of the plane, falling at 140 miles/hour.

The free fall lasted about 45 seconds. It felt like a long dip on a rollercoaster ride, causing the wind to hit my face, with strong force, and my cheeks to flap uncontrollably. Not long after, our parachute shot out. I was relieved. In my video, I can be heard saying, “Yay! The parachute came out!” Once the parachute was out, my instructor and I were swung towards the sky. Strangely enough, this made my stomach drop more than it did during the free fall. My instructor then asked me if I like rollercoaster rides. I told him I don't. He replied with: “Then you’re going to like this.” He pulled the control lines, up and down, in opposite directions, causing us to move in a downward spiral. He then let me control the lines. It really did feel like a rollercoaster, except I enjoyed the beautiful view around me, something I’ve never been able to do while on an actual rollercoaster.

We were getting close to landing. My instructor pointed out the targeted area; a piece of squared land, with a road that was directly behind it. I got worried; I didn’t want to land on the road! We were falling quickly. My instructor told me that I needed to bend my knees up, during the landing. While listening to his instructions, I was praying that we wouldn’t land on the road.

We were getting closer to the ground. “Bend your knees,” my instructor stated. I quickly bent my knees up, in the uncomfortable position. We were gliding across the ground...

Finally, we landed. Safely.

“I survived!” was the first thing I said.

With a high-five, my instructor commended me for making the jump.

Skydiving has not taken away my fear of heights. But, I am facing my fear. I never would have thought that I would jump out of a plane, at 15,000 feet up, but I did. And I did so alone, without having any support from a loved one. I am glad I jumped completely clear minded, not having alcohol in my system, like I had intended. I have realized that as long as I am willing to push myself to its limits, I can do anything.

Additionally, skydiving is the ultimate rush. Not only did I free fall for 45 seconds, at a speed of 140 mph, but I had a gorgeous view of the world around me, a view that can only be seen at 15,000 feet above ground.