So Maybe I Jumped Out of a Plane...

‎...And once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, For there you have been and there you long to return...

Leonardo da Vinci

MBAs are incredibly lucky people. Each semester they get an entire week off of school to pursue jobs and internships. (Us poor little MPAs only get one day the whole school year.) But I digress. The point is that if you are an MBA and you already have a stellar job lined up, what are you to do with your week free of classes? Sit around and do homework all week? No! Jump out of a plane? Yes! So, my good friends Liz and Jamen (being the good MBA students with secure futures that they are) planned a little excursion to the south of the state to hurl themselves out of a moving plane at 14,000 feet above sea level. Having an entire day off that week and considering that several of my classes were canceled, I jumped (literally?) at the chance to tag along.

We headed out Thursday morning and made the 4 hour drive to Hurricane. None of us were very nervous when we left, but the closer we got to the airport, the more we started wondering if this was really such a great idea. The first thing that we did when we got to the airport was to sign our lives away.

The form looked something like this:

Please initial the following to signify that you will not sue us if something bad happens.

___ I understand that my parachute may not deploy, or the plane may crash, or that any number of unexpected things may inflict bodily harm to me.

___ I understand that I may be paralyzed.

___ I understand that I may die.

Hmm. That was comforting.

Next came a training video hosted by a lawyer who looked like ZZ Top. He also told us that we may die, but then they showed a video of some very happy people skydiving (and not dying) and I felt much better.

Our friendly instructor Rick then took us outside and put us through a quick training session. The next thing we knew, it was go-time.

The facility was tiny, so we had to go up one at a time, but that ended up being pretty cool because we got to watch one another jump. The best part about going down to Hurricane is that you get a 20 minute scenic flight over Zion Canyon before you jump. It was breathtaking. The weather was perfect. Then the plane door opened.

I honestly expected to freeze, freak out, vomit, or otherwise embarrass myself up there, but I didn't. When the time came, I just flipped my legs out of the plane, stood on the little step and waited for Rick to say "GO!".

And that was it.

It was amazing. There really isn't anything that you can compare it to. The freefall lasted almost a minute and then, once the parachute was deployed, there was the most incredible silence. As thrilling as the rest of it was, I think that the silence was my favorite part. The entire crazy world had fallen away. I wish that I could do that moment justice with words, but I can't. I guess you are just going to have to find out for yourself.

Here is a little mini photo journal of our adventures in Hurricane:

Here is Liz, all ready to jump!

Jamen being awfully brave and taking the first jump.

Maybe I was a little bit excited.

Ok, I was a lot excited.

Liz floating (falling) gracefully from a height of, oh, 11,000 ft.

It didn't suck at all.

We lived!

Who wants to go again?