While freefall might entice most people to try skydiving, a surprising amount of first time jumpers enjoy the parachute ride even more than the freefall. This is one of the many hidden beauties of skydiving: it’s actually two sports in one!
After the instructor has deployed the main parachute, you’ll gradually decelerate from 200km/h to about 30km/h in about 10 seconds. As the parachute fully opens, it gets much calmer and quieter (you’ll be able to talk with your instructor now). Your body orientation has shifted from horizontal and vertical and weightiness has returned (you’ll feel suspension in your leg straps and at the shoulders). Sensory overload fades completely away, your neurological system chills out but leaves the good blissful drugs in your system. All of that combined with the zen chillness of the parachute ride, clouds and/or sunset, make if a completely different sensory experience.
After the instructor does some housekeeping (wind assessments, practice landing and navigating location), you typically have another 4000 feet of vertical descent to play and fly back to the landing area. In most cases, your instructor will hand over the controls and let you fly the parachute during a safe altitude and area. Please understand that sometimes the wind, traffic conditions or drop location are not ideal for a first time flight so we might not be able to let fly. Safety always is priority. New jumpers are often surprised at how responsive and controllable the parachutes fly. They dive, bank, roll and turn similar to an aircraft. Those g-forces are felt when we rotate and spiral.
If you’ve been flying the parachute, your tandem instructor will take over around 2000 feet and begin the landing pattern. As the pair turn in on a final approach, your instructor tell you to lift up your legs for landing, leading to a soft slide onto the ground on your butt. You’re back but you’ll never be the same!