Making the list of 20 goals was the hardest part of the exercise. They had to be things that I had not done before, that offered some challenge in order to achieve and which supported my mission statement.
Many challenges on my list would be on most people’s list of things to do before they die, or reach a certain age. A couple of the more common ones are missing, however. The first of these is ‘Make a parachute jump’. This is not on my list because I have already done it. Twice in fact.
If parachute jumping is on your list then may I give you a tip? Opt for a tandem jump. In this way you can both scare yourself shitless and yet relax at the same time as someone else has the difficult task of ensuring that you find the drop zone and land safely. Jumping from a static line as I did means you have all of those problems. Think about it this way – when you first learned to drive a car how much sightseeing did you do? Did you ever have time to admire the world around you? No, you didn’t. You were too busy trying to focus on three things at once, wipe the cold sweat of fear out of your eyes and avoid a nasty accident. And it’s exactly the same with parachuting, except it’s in three dimensions and the brakes are a bit dodgy.
For my first parachute jump I got out of the plane at 2,000 feet, my canopy opened and I didn’t have a sodding clue where I was. Nothing on the ground matched the map I had in my head. Fortunately there was a one way radio strapped to my chest that allowed an instructor on the ground to relay messages to me, such as ‘pull your left toggle’. It was a nerve-wracking few minutes where I was just a puppet with my life in somebody else’s hands. But in a strange way I enjoyed it and actually thought that it could be the hobby for me.
Back I went to the airfield a few weeks later to clock up jump number two. This didn’t go quite so well.
When I did my first jump it was after a day’s training and all the instructions were fresh in my mind. Several sleeps later I had forgotten nearly everything. Still, not to worry, all I had to do was listen to the voice coming out of my chest. All went well until I was about 100 feet off the ground and ready to land. I misunderstood the instruction given to me, put myself into a spin, lost control and collided with a tree. I was very lucky to escape with just a badly sprained ankle.
I never returned to the airfield. Apart from my dented confidence I had wrecked a thousand pounds’ worth of parachute and I didn’t fancy the bill if I showed my face again.
The other challenge you might expect to see on the list is bungee jumping and my reason for not including it is linked to my parachute experience.
The hardest part of a solo parachute jump is leaving the aircraft. It’s just not natural. There you are enjoying the scenery and next minute you’re being told to leave the aircraft. Sitting in the doorway, legs dangling outside the plane, with the slip stream sucking at you; it takes an awful lot of courage to hurl yourself out into the void. I had that courage twice, but no longer.
The idea of a bungee jump brings on that same fear. I imagine myself inching out onto the jump platform with everybody watching. As the seconds tick away and the time comes to jump I know I will be frozen with fear and have to be helped back to safety and ritual humiliation.
I will do most things, but I have always said that I will never do a bungee jump.
Next time - The last day approaches
Many challenges on my list would be on most people’s list of things to do before they die, or reach a certain age. A couple of the more common ones are missing, however. The first of these is ‘Make a parachute jump’. This is not on my list because I have already done it. Twice in fact.
If parachute jumping is on your list then may I give you a tip? Opt for a tandem jump. In this way you can both scare yourself shitless and yet relax at the same time as someone else has the difficult task of ensuring that you find the drop zone and land safely. Jumping from a static line as I did means you have all of those problems. Think about it this way – when you first learned to drive a car how much sightseeing did you do? Did you ever have time to admire the world around you? No, you didn’t. You were too busy trying to focus on three things at once, wipe the cold sweat of fear out of your eyes and avoid a nasty accident. And it’s exactly the same with parachuting, except it’s in three dimensions and the brakes are a bit dodgy.
For my first parachute jump I got out of the plane at 2,000 feet, my canopy opened and I didn’t have a sodding clue where I was. Nothing on the ground matched the map I had in my head. Fortunately there was a one way radio strapped to my chest that allowed an instructor on the ground to relay messages to me, such as ‘pull your left toggle’. It was a nerve-wracking few minutes where I was just a puppet with my life in somebody else’s hands. But in a strange way I enjoyed it and actually thought that it could be the hobby for me.
Back I went to the airfield a few weeks later to clock up jump number two. This didn’t go quite so well.
When I did my first jump it was after a day’s training and all the instructions were fresh in my mind. Several sleeps later I had forgotten nearly everything. Still, not to worry, all I had to do was listen to the voice coming out of my chest. All went well until I was about 100 feet off the ground and ready to land. I misunderstood the instruction given to me, put myself into a spin, lost control and collided with a tree. I was very lucky to escape with just a badly sprained ankle.
I never returned to the airfield. Apart from my dented confidence I had wrecked a thousand pounds’ worth of parachute and I didn’t fancy the bill if I showed my face again.
The other challenge you might expect to see on the list is bungee jumping and my reason for not including it is linked to my parachute experience.
The hardest part of a solo parachute jump is leaving the aircraft. It’s just not natural. There you are enjoying the scenery and next minute you’re being told to leave the aircraft. Sitting in the doorway, legs dangling outside the plane, with the slip stream sucking at you; it takes an awful lot of courage to hurl yourself out into the void. I had that courage twice, but no longer.
The idea of a bungee jump brings on that same fear. I imagine myself inching out onto the jump platform with everybody watching. As the seconds tick away and the time comes to jump I know I will be frozen with fear and have to be helped back to safety and ritual humiliation.
I will do most things, but I have always said that I will never do a bungee jump.
Next time - The last day approaches
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