A couple dozen wild and crazy USM students, including myself, recently spent a Saturday jumping out of an airplane and slicing through the crisp autumn air at speeds of up to 120mph-before our parachutes opened up. Our death-defying fun was sponsored by the Southern Maine Outing Club.
Our adventure was held at Skydive New England in Lebanon, Maine, which borders Rochester, New Hampshire.
Inside a comfy lodge filled with well-worn sofas and chairs, we watched a brief skydiving instruction video, signed a stack of waivers, and forked over $110 each for the chance to leap from a plane. Were we nuts?
Outside, we each got hooked up with a certified skydiver (first time skydivers jump with a pro). My pro, Mike, is a real veteran with over 4000 jumps under his belt.
After everyone piled into close-fitting suits and vests, our instructors wrapped us tightly in straps that nearly cut off our circulation. We were finally ready to go.
As the twin-turbine Super Otter aircraft climbed 14,000 feet into the air, we peaked out our windows at the beautiful red, orange, yellow, and green foliage far below. Minutes later, a wide door at the rear of the aircraft opened and two-by-two we leapt out into the sky. No, nobody chickened out.
We fell through the cool air stomach first with our arms and legs spread out and our heads craned back as far as we could stretch them. Strangely, I didn’t feel like I was falling. Instead, I had the sensation of being suspended in the air by the wind rushing up to greet my falling body. With no trees at that altitude, I had no way to gauge my speed, thus I felt weightless as I floated through the air. Seconds later, Mike released our bright yellow parachute and we eased-no, there was no nasty jolt-to a feet first position. As Mike and I gracefully sailed through the air, I noticed several other parachutes pop open and dot the sky with brilliant purples, blues, and reds. As we approached the grass, I kicked my legs straight out in front of me, as Mike had instructed, and we glided in to a surprisingly smooth landing.
Before we left, Skydive New England awarded each of us frame-size certificates signifying our accomplishment.
The experience was.well, to die for. The question was: would our parents see it that way, too?