Fist Skydive

Synchronized canopy control - Jump 3

After having successfully completed my first and second static line progression (which you can read about on a previous post) I was chomping at the bit to get back to the drop zone. Being my birthday month, money was falling like manna from heaven and so the very next weekend I found myself driving the long road to the drop zone. The butterflies began to build in my stomach as I turned onto the N1 South and I turned up the music to counter them.

With Bon Jovi (Its my life) threatening to burst my speakers, I turned on to dirt road and finally arrived at the jump site. The weather was almost perfect, a beautiful Joburg morning with barely a cloud in sight but with quite a strong northerly wind. This would end up playing a role in my misadventure of the day. I quickly made my way to Manifest and booked my jumps for the day before kitting up.

All students are given a rather stark jump suit in bright yellow, presumably so that it easier to identify us and then direct loud comments in our direction about the number of incidents that occur in the sport. They do this with great relish at any opportunity they get. My already frizzled nerves were given a further shock as the load before mine had a genuine incident.

The guy in question had a huge smile on his face as he recalled how he had tried to correct a severe line twist down to a 1000 feet before going in to a spin and deciding that a cut away was the best option. My hands went white and my bright yellow student helmet strained under the pressure of their embrace.

Fast forwarding to 4000 feet above ground level (keep up - I'm doing static line progression, free fall is but a Youtube video to me at this point) and I was unceremoniously kicked out into the crisp Gauteng air.

Kicking out of a line twist I orientated myself and hugged the upwind side of the dropzone. Almost immediately I picked up static in my radio (first three jumps get directed in to land) and auto tuned with surprisingly clear quality to a local radio station. I was just beginning to zone out and enjoy pirate radio when Liz my instructor brought me back to earth (Excuse the pun).

She took me through a series of 180 degree turns that slowly bled altitude and prepared me to land.
'180 degrees left,' she would say.
'180 degrees left,' I would mutter to myself before burying my toggle into my crotch in my very best pedophile impersonation.

Very soon however I noticed out of the bottom of my eye that something was terribly wrong. Every set of instructions Liz was giving me was being reproduced at a much lower and more dangerous altitude by my fellow ground school alumni, Pier.

I think everyone in the vicinity realized this except poor Pier. No matter how adamantly Liz referred to 'jumper 2' he blindly followed her as he slowly directed himself over the runway. This impromptu synchronized canopy display ended abruptly when he ran out of open sky. In the shape of a small hut. Thankfully he escaped with no injuries.

Of course just the fact that I can recap his flight path in such detail, clearly indicates I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I had drifted almost 200 meters downwind from the landing zone with promise of more to come.

Adrenaline kicked in as I realized how low I was. No time to reach the club, I resigned to landing in the bush. Unfortunately at this point, once vocal Liz became silent. She later said this was because I was so far away a small crop of trees had obscured me and she had also lost interest.

I flared like a rank beginner, over optimistically high and came to ground like a sack of potatoes. As I was picking myself up, some unidentified sole came on the airwaves and offered to pick me up in the club land rover. Clearly this faceless person doesn't know me or my pride.

As I hitched my parachute above my knees and began to walk, I thought of the lessons this jump had taught me. This revolved centrally around how little effort was required to land a 290 square foot parachute, the 'barn door' as it is now affectionately known. I mean seriously those things will land you safely no matter what.

But mainly I thought to myself as I watched canopies land all around me, it was proof that just like life all you need to do is worry about your own canopy, don't pay too much attention to what others say and you should hit your mark.

Learning to Skydive

So it turns out that skydiving is harder than it looks. Having watched a few videos on Youtube, I immediately got into my crazy 'I can do this' mentality that surfaces every now and then. Its the same force that saw me hobbling across the finish line at our local IRONMAN triathlon a few years ago. Turns out that Raynard Tissink and Chrissie Wellington actually train, A LOT! But that's a story for another day.

So I enrolled for a course at our local drop zone, Johannesburg Skydiving Club. The course took a day and covered a lot of technical mumbo jumbo and procedures for what to do if something goes wrong. Naturally I dozed off and therefore couldn't remember half of it when we were asked to demonstrate what we had been taught in a mock harness. I languished and stuttered through the drills and after much frustration on the part of the instructor, he had to let me out to relieve blood supply to my legs. 

Assuming that this constituted a pass, I made a beeline for the aeroplane before he could strap me back into the harness. Remembering just in time, I doubled back and picked up a 100% genuine parachute which is a lot heavier than it looks. So that by the time I eventually made it onto a bench in the tiny plane, fatigue was setting in. 

I very much doubted I would have the energy to jump from the plane and I was just leaning froward to tell the jump master this when the door swung open. Communication became impossible at this point and he seemed to take my crazy hand signals as a sign of excitement. 

At this point, it is important to emphasize to the reader that their was no fear on my part. Any reluctance to jump out was purely based on the fatigue brought on by having to lug a heavy parachute on my back. No fear I simply needed a nap or a Red Bull.

Before I knew it though I was being corralled to the back of the plane and towards the door. My desperate plea was whipped away on the wind and before I knew it I had been gripped by the collar and thrown out the door.

The last thing I remember was the sadistic grin on the jump masters face as he watched me plummet towards earth. Next was a whipping noise as my parachute looked for purchase on the air.

'Right,' I thought to myself, 'I should be doing some form of check at this point.'

'Parachute open? That's good enough for me.'

The landing was surprisingly uneventful as I steered myself towards the ground (turns out its quite hard to miss) and landed with a jolt just fifty meters from the point I was aiming for.

So skydiving is not as easy as I originally thought, however the hardest part is most definitely a mental battle with your own genetic predisposition not to jump off high things. I will definitely pursue the sport further and maybe one day I will be able to do the amazing low altitude wingsuit swoops that have enthralled me on Youtube. Until then I will commit to trying to learn my checks and procedures before I need to use them for real. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWfph3iNC-k 

Run Jozi

Their is no better way to learn valuable life lessons than to take up distance running. No matter how competitive or social you are, the roads are always willing to teach you a lesson. We all remember our first season as a teenager, pushing too hard early on and walking across the finish line. We soon learnt to ease into a race, wisely knowing that its better to finish strong. And then their is always that granny with spandex and makeup who will pass you on the hill. But we soon learn to swallow our pride and let her arthritic frame shuffle by. All the better for your race time.

And I think that's the most important lesson to take away from running. You alone determine what time will greet you at the finish line. You alone decide how much to put in, cause what you put in you get out.

And this is what I took away from RunJozi. Having not run for nearing six months, I lined up at the start line with the racing snakes ready to go. My Cancerthon shaved head blended right in. I looked the part! The excitement built as fireworks were releases and loud music filtered through the streets. A small storm added to  the energy as we nervously shifted around in our pens. 

Finally the masses were unleashed.

As we slowly snaked our way across Nelson Mandela Bridge, the pace quickened. But I didn't.

 I quickly realized that projected time and actual time were most definitely going to have a discrepancy. So thanking my lucky stars that I hadn't told anyone that I had been planning to break the 10Km world record, I settled into a easy pace and enjoyed the atmosphere.

And what an experience it was. Running over the brightly lit Nelson Mandela Bridge we quickly descended into almost complete darkness. Most of the race would be run in these eerie conditions.The locals greeted us with bemused looks that quickly turned into smiles and whoops of encouragement.

The route took in most of the major landmarks surrounding the city center, but I barely remember seeing them. I was too busy experiencing the amazing camaraderie and passion between runners and locals, welcoming us into their home.

The finish was a welcome relief for my stiff legs and I swiftly found a small bench within view of the finish to watch my sister and her boyfriend come across the line. All in all the race was very well organised and considering it was the first year of it being held, the organizers can be proud of their effort. 

Running safely through Joburg at night? easily doable. 

Getting ten thousand people into lumo green t-shirts of ill fitting sizes? A minor miracle.

Well done Nike, you did the impossible.

Varsity Cup Thriller

The 2012 Varsity Cup semi-finalists have been decided! The last match of the round robin stage played last night saw UJ drawing twelve all with the University of Stellenbosch. Maties came up to UJ stadium looking to continue their unbeaten streak for the 2012 season and secure a top of the log finish while UJ needed a win with a bonus point to secure a home semi-final.

UJ secured the possession stakes quite comfortably, at times retaining more than 70% ball in hand. However their failure to convert this possession into points saw Maties going into the break 2 points ahead. When they did have possession Maties showed imputes however handling errors cost them dearly.

The second half saw UJ finally managing to bash over the line and following up with the conversion and a penalty to lead ten points to two with ten minutes to go. With all hopes of four tries and a home semi-final out the window, UJ had clearly settled for the win. A mistake by scrum half Rudi Paige gifted the Maties possession with a minute to go. It had taken them 80 minutes to gel and after a cleverly weighted move, Louis Jordaan dotted down in the corner. The conversion by Kemp left the teams level at full time. 

Maties captain Helmet Lehmann felt that the boys had played badly but that it was a good wake up call for the knock out phase while UJ captain Justin Wheeler felt that, ‘We can beat any team in this competition on any day.’

UJ alumni and former Springbok Captain Francois Pienaar was on hand at the match and expressed his, ‘delight at seeing such a vocal crowd.’ The semi-finals take place on the 25^th March and see UJ travelling down to Danie Craven stadium for a rematch against Maties. The other semi-final pits UP-Tuks against PUKKE in Pretoria.