Skydiving in the Southern Alps

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“Think those peaks get more snow than the ones down south? Those chutes look sweet.”

“Ya, those would be the ones to hit up if you were to heli-ski while you’re down here.”

“Really? Thanks for the tip.”

 

I needed to talk about something else to hide the fact that my legs were shaking wildly as our plane bobbed and weaved upwards.  All of a sudden the plane dipped and sent all six of the passengers floating a foot above the floor and my stomach into my mouth.  I whipped my head around to check out if we even had a competent pilot…only to discover that he had a parachute over his shoulders too.  That gave me tons of confidence.  Megan was sitting next to me, equally terrified but with a smile on her face.  A kiwi named Brian sat behind me; he helped me scout potential ski lines while hooking up our tandem harness.

Before I knew it, we were tumbling through the sky with the plane growing smaller above us.  Skydiving is a rush.  The adrenaline hits you like a brick in the stomach and you feel the tingle in your fingers and toes immediately.  I’m pretty sure I yelled at the top of my lungs until Brian pulled the chute at 5000’.  After a 35 second freefall, it took us a few minutes to float to the ground.  The southern alps provided a picturesque panorama view for the ride down.  Megan and I saw each other halfway down and could only laugh. 

By far one of the most exciting 20 minutes of my life.  I was starting to regret not getting another guy to video our jump…but the $199 extra could be spent on other adventures.

-Tyler Grubb