General information (some things you might not realize)
Skydiving is not “safe”!
And don’t let anyone tell you that it is.
However, like many activities that are considered “high-risk”, its risks are well known and for the most part, controllable. Skydiving, like all high-risk activities, requires care, knowledge, common sense, and the proper attitude. If these requirements are met, skydiving can be done quite successfully. If you cannot meet these requirements, don’t skydive. Parachutes are simple mechnical devices and are inherently very reliable. The human beings that use them need to be equally reliable.
Skydiving is a year-round sport
Sure it’s cold in the winter, but so is anything outdoors in the winter. Many people think that it is much colder at the higher altitudes, but this is not neccessarily true. The steady decrease in temperature as you go higher in altitude is most pronounced in the summer, where it is pleasantly cool up high. But in the winter it might only be 5-10 degrees colder. Most airplanes are heated, and we promise you that you won’t even notice the cold in freefall! Land, warm up inside, then do it again!
There are age requirements and weight limits (sorry)
Hopefully common sense should prevail here.
Legally it is very risky for any skydiving operation to allow a minor (“younger than the age of legal majority” in that state) to skydive. And, parents cannot sign-away the rights of their children. So basically that means you must be at least 18 years old. No, you won’t be able to talk them into letting you jump if you are not at least 18.
It’s been said that Americans are getting fatter, and that means that fewer of them are going to be able to make a parachute jump of any kind. The more weight under a parachute, the faster its descent, so at some weight, the risk of injury outweighs the benefit of allowing someone heavy (or very out of shape) to jump.
The different training methods and parachute systems have different weight limitations, so you will need to contact the skydiving operations to determine what their limitations are. (These limitations may be different for different operations, so it won’t do any good to try to argue with them over what another operation is willing to do.)
Aviation and skydiving are affected by the weather
Hopefully another common sense issue. Find more skydiving deals here: The best gas fire pits
Things that could keep you from jumping are:
Clouds at an altitude at or below where you would be jumping. (This altitude will depend on the type of jump)High winds. (This will depend on the type of jump)
Note: The weather is different at the airport than at your home! Maybe better, maybe worse. There are no guarantees about the weather.