Austin Olding- Getting Over the Risks of Skydiving (Final)

   Anyone who participates in high risk sports (sports in-which your risk of getting injured or dying increases), knows that human error is the leading cause of getting hurt or seriously injured. Throughout this Ethnographic essay I will examine the literacy(s) involved in how people talk themselves into taking risks, specifically in the high risk sport of skydiving. I interviewed a skydiving instructor named Tim from “Start Skydiving” in Middletown, he was in the United States air force before becoming an instructor. I will also be looking/talking about the two scholarly articles “Collegiate skydiving: do they fear death?”, and “An analysis of U.S. parachuting fatalities: 2000-2004”. All of these different information sources will give me and you a good glimpse of the risks people take by skydiving.}

   Weather you have been skydiving your entire life, or it’s your first time you should not be so scared to skydive, because even though skydiving is one of the highest risk sports, the odds are you will not die or even get injured. “According to the United States Parachute Association (USPA) 2002 members survey parachutists make over two million recreational skydives each year. Of these approximately 34 end in fatality”(Randell, Griffith, Hart 896). I went around campus and asked fifty people, who have never gone sky diving, “How many people do you think die from skydiving each year?” I found that about 90% of the people said one-hundred plus die each year. This was not a big surprise to me, because I thought the same thing before I went skydiving last October. I think that the media plays a big part in making skydiving sound so dangerous. The media is too eager to report a skydiving death, while overlooking the millions of successful skydives each year.

   I really liked my skydiving instructor that I tandem jumped (jumping with your instructor who is attached to you) with. So I asked him if I could do an E-mail interview with him:

Me: How old were you when you first skydived?

Tim: I was 18 years old.

Me: What made you decide to go skydiving?

Tim: A friend of mine wanted to tandem skydive for his eighteenth birthday. So I decided to tag along.

Me: Where you nervous the first time?

Tim: I was very nervous the first time I went skydiving, people kept telling me that I could die or get really hurt.

Me: How did you talk your-self into skydiving?

Tim: I kept telling my-self I only live once, and this could be a once in a life time opportunity.

Tim: My skydiving instructor wouldn’t let me back down, he kept saying the only way you are getting down is by jumping.

Tim: And because I had no other choice I had to do it, I am thankful that he (my instructor) made me jump. I love it know.

Me: Why did you want to become an instructor?

Tim: I always wanted to go to the United States Air Force, and it is a requirement that I had to jump out of a plane, and I also had to teach the new members of the Air Force how to jump out of one as well. I loved jumping out of a plane, it is a bit of an addiction really.

Tim: When I got out of the Air Force I decide to get a summer job doing what I loved, I mean getting paid to skydive is like getting paid to sit at home and watch T.V. all day.

Me: How many accidents have you been involved in?

Tim: None, you are more likely to die in a car accident on your way to the airport then while skydiving.

Me: Have you ever had to use your reserve shot?

Tim: not that I can remember, but it’s always nice to know it’s there.

Me: How many times do you jump in an average day?

Tim: It depends really, if I am tandem jumping than I jump between 10-15 times a day. If I mix in a couple solo jumps with the formation than, I can jump about 20 times a day.

Tim: People love the feeling so much that one guy who jumped solo foregot to pull the cord. He thought he was flying. Thats Human error at its finest.

Tim also told me when I first met him that he has always been a risk taker, and no matter what challenges have come his way he take them full speed. Tim was very knowledgeable about sky diving. He said one thing to me last October that I will never forget, “If you can accomplish skydiving then you can accomplish anything that comes your way in the life.” I still think about that anytime a problem comes my way.

   The first time you go skydiving, you have to take an hour class/course where you watch a video about how to be safe while skydiving, and what you should not to do. This is part of literacy in skydiving. While watching the skydiving videos you learn skydiving lingo like: A/C-Aircraft, Altimeters- which is used to measure the altitude and how you know when to open the parachute. When you know who to use the proper tools and how to use them you are diminishing the risk of getting hurt and dying.



    This is a video that will gives good information on how to stay safe while skydiving.

   The first time I went skydiving I was nervous just like anyone else would be. I quickly learned that there are many precautions taken to make sure you stay safe. They double and triple check the parachutes to make sure that they are properly folded and put into the backpacks. If you are doing a tandem jump your instructor makes sure that your are connected properly three times before getting in the plane, three times while in the plane, and once before you jump. There is a little light in the plane that singles when to go, Red obviously means not safe and green means safe for the first jumper.




    When it’s time to jump out of the plane you instructor will tell you to lean back and put your feet up like you are kneeling and pull your stomach in. When it is your first time you will probably get really nervous looking out at the 11,000 foot drop. Tons of thoughts run through your head at this moment. I am scared of heights, what I did was look straight out (don’t look down). Breath deep, and listen to what your instructor says to do. And when he says jump, jump. Your body is on sensory overload before you jump out. However, once you jump your body seems to relax and you begin to enjoy the experience. It’s kind of weird, how your body changes. This is all part of literacy during skydiving. It’s really mind over matter, once you can get you mind past the risks of skydiving, and then you will be fine. You need to remember that most injures are from human error. And Human error can be controlled.






    Through skydiving I learned many things, such as you can’t skydive through certain clouds because you will bounce off of them. Who would have thought that? In the movies you just see people fall through clouds and they don’t think anything about it. I also learned how to put on a parachute and jumpsuit. I learned that 11,000 feet is as high as you can go without need a source of oxygen.

    Even though skydiving is considered to be the most high risk sport there is, people do it every day. Once you can get your mind over matter you will be fine. It is easy to talk yourself out of skydiving. But once you skydive once you will want to do it again and again. You can meditate or ever pray before you jump. Once you get over the height of the jump you will be fine, because you chance of dying from skydiving is 95,000 to every one fatality (Griffith, Hart 71). And with all the improvements in safety of tools for skydiving, the risks of getting hurt diminish even more. I even learned that the most important hand signal in skydiving is the double thumbs-up, which means the parachute opened.





    This is a video of my Skydive. Just type in the Zip Code 45231, to view it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Skydive Video: "Skydive
Video"

        Works Cited

Griffith, James. Hart, C. Lanier. "Collegiate Skydivers: Do they Fear Death."(2005): 71. Print.

Griffith, James. Hart, C. Lanier. Joe, Randell. "An Anyalsis of U.S. Parachuting Fatalities: 2000-2004."(2006): 896. Print.