MY FIRST JUMP July the
16th, 2000. I
had been waiting for this day since when I was a little girl. My dream: being a
skydiver. Now I am there: at the Cremona Skydive
DZ, in the middle of July it’s so extremely hot and humid. I spent last night at
the airport in the trailer of a friend, because I knew that going home would
have meant to be too nervous. I started my full immersion last Friday night with
a 3 hours lesson, during which I learnt everything about a chute: hopefully I
had a cool teacher who was able to catch my attention. The lesson was over at
almost 12:30am. On Saturday morning I was at the DZ at 9am, but started the
lesson at 11:30am, this time it was about any possible malfunction and how to
solve it. At noon I was supposed to jump, but it was really cloudy and windy, so
I just had to wait till the day after. And look at me there, with my blue
jumpsuit, this super-heavy student gear on my back, training with my 2
jumpmasters. It’s almost time to get in the plane,
it’s so hot and my brain is blank: I cannot think about anything, I cannot
relax. We get in the plane: I couldn’t imagine we would have been 10 people in
the Pilatus PC6. I’m in the right corner, with my two jumpmasters, at 1.500mt we
start to revise the jump, ok, I remember it. When I stop talking I feel my heart
beating so fast, I can barely breath; my head is empty… that’s called fear! At
3.000mt, Grysu starts checking me: everything is alright: I put on goggles and
helmet, at 4.000mt I hear the pilot telling “stand by”… after few seconds:
“exit”, and that’s when I see the first person jumping out of the plane. In a
moment I remain alone in the plane with my two jumpmasters, they call me at the
door. I’m on my knees, my arms standing out of the plane, ready to dive. I look
at my two “angels” and scream “Check in” he say “ok”, I say “check out” he
answers “ok” and I jump out of the plane. I am flying!!! I do all my exercises,
I check the altitude and communicate it to both the “angels”, then I show them,
for 3 times, I am able to open the chute, I communicate the altitude once again
and at 1.500mt. I pull and open the chute. I feel a windage and I see my canopy
opened: it is purple, pink and white: I love it. Down there at the DZ there is
the School Director talking to me on the radio, I hear him and I shake my legs
three times in order to let him know I can hear and I can see the airport. When
it is time to land, my jumpmaster gives me all instructions and I touch the
earth without any problem, with a great flair! When I arrive at the packing zone, I am
so excited, so happy, so high! I receive the congratulations of my jumpmasters
and of the skydivers who, in few weeks, would have become my friends. The
1st AFF level is gone and I passed it! Ready for the
2nd! In three weeks I did seven jumps and
passed all the seven levels and I already had the skydiving patent on my hands
and I could jump all by myself!!! |
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