Skydiving the Swiss Alps

In total, there were 14 of us skydiving, plus Matt, an Aussie who happened to be skydiving with our group as well. En route to the airstrip, we filled out waivers (I learned this summer never to read a waiver- just sign it), and people paid for pictures and DVDs if they were getting them. We also decided on jump order while we were in the bus. Jeremy, Matt (the Aussie), and I were going to be going in the last plane.

When we got to the airstrip and saw the plane, that’s when it really hit that we’d be jumping out at 15,000 feet. We all put on jump suits and practiced our free falling positions in the airplane hangar. One by one, plane by plane, everyone came floating out of the sky safely, so I wasn’t too nervous when it was my turn…mostly anxious. Hans was the Swiss professional that was going to be strapped to my back doing all the hard stuff, and he had been jumping for 10 years, so all I had to do was not freak out, haha. We all wedged into the plane (and I mean wedged…there were people on my lap and stacked up all over), and we were off.

The view was the best part. It was absolutely breathtaking. I can’t even describe it here in this blog; the pictures I took don’t even do it justice. If you want to see the beauty of the Swiss Alps like I saw them, you have to go up in a tiny plane on a clear morning in early fall with sun coming through the peaks and reflecting off the lakes, just like I did. It cannot be replicated. As the houses got smaller and smaller, and more and more mountains surrounded us, you could look down and see the turquoise water and the town of Interlaken, right between the lakes like it was suppose to be. Gratefully, it was the most calming experience ever…. until they opened the door.

Matt was out first, and quickly it was my turn. Feet over the edge. Head back. Back arched. “Ready? Ok.” And then I was falling.

I felt like I couldn’t even breathe. I don’t think I did. For about 45 seconds I was free-falling, but I didn’t even have any concept of falling at all. It was like I was floating. The ground was so far away that I had no feeling of it getting closer. Before I knew it Hans had tapped my shoulder again and the parachute was open. He adjusted my harness and let me get my camera out. Hans spun us all around and I took video and pictures of the view. Then we landed, and it was easy as that. No problems. I hadn’t even considered the possibility of death in the whole ordeal. It was adrenaline to the maximum.