Learning to Fly by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

The Perrine Bridge, Twin Falls, Idaho

When jumping off cliffs or buildings, it’s possible to either fall or fly into the wall, which is at the top of the long list of bad things that can happen to you. The Perrine is considered a safe object to jump since the bridge is an open arch and you won’t hit it if you find yourself facing the wrong way. The Perrine also spans a river, so if you find yourself in serious trouble you can aim for the water, which is a lot softer than the ground. Still, a handful of jumpers have died or become permanently injured there, maybe because most everyone goes there to learn to base jump or to try out crazy tricks.

Base jumping was not really to blame for some of the deaths, though—most notably that of a man who jumped alone and landed safely on a winter afternoon, but found himself unable to make his way twenty minutes up the rocky hillside at the base of the bridge to the lights of town. Somehow he didn’t come up with the idea of wrapping himself in his massive nylon parachute or simply walking back and forth until dawn, and he froze to death.

Jimmy and Marta vetted all applicants to the courses, and their absolute minimum requirement for skydives was a hundred. They also asked that students arrive at the course prepared to pack their own gear with supervision. Because we were friends and my transformation from a whuffo to a jumper was exciting for them, Jimmy and Marta had offered to let me tag along on one of the courses, as long as I had my packing down and enough skydives. Jay had sent me off with two of his identical base rigs, so I would be able to be more efficient by doing two jumps in a row before having to stop to repack.

The hotel that Jimmy and Marta preferred, less than a mile from the top of the Perrine Bridge, even offered a discount to base jumpers and welcomed dogs. So we all gathered there the night before the course, a group of six men and two women, everyone excited and nervous.

The first day of the course was spent inside a hotel room as Marta took everyone through ground school. Her English was softly accented, with each syllable equally emphasized in the Brazilian style. We all sat and listened as she went through a hit list of the main problems that can happen—facing the wall when the canopy opens, having all the lines wrap into twists above you, losing a steering toggle, coming in too fast on landing, landing in water—and the procedures for dealing with them. She gave explanations of wind conditions, body position, equipment, and, most important, decision-making. Marta told us about a few of the accidents she’d seen in jumping, to illustrate each potential problem and how not to deal with it. She offhandedly mentioned that all the carnage she’d seen in the sport had reinforced her belief in conservative decision-making.

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