“The Ultimate Challenge to Find Adventure”

I have always been a person that thrived on adventure. I searched for years trying to find the ultimate challenge. I watched my friends experiment with extreme sports like motocross. I listened to their stories of the adrenaline rush and excitement riding gave them, but I knew this is not where I would find my passion. 

In September of 2005, I did something that would forever change my life. I visited a small DZ (drop zone) in East Tennessee called Skydive Smoky Mountain to do my first skydive.

The DZ was just a small grass airfield located in the foothills of the smoky mountains. It was a true mom-and-pop operation. I checked in with Kip, the pilot who would be taking us up to jump. He was a crazy ex-helicopter pilot who told the most amazing stories. I put down my money, got signed up, and waited with knots in my stomach.

My experience started with watching a short video about what to expect. Then Dave, our instructor, went over the basics of jumping out of a plane. Ready?

The reality of what I was about to do was suddenly all I could focus on. I was about to jump out of a plane strapped to the back of a guy I just met. This could be a live-or-die situation, and I had to completely trust that he knew what he was doing.  I was overwhelmed with doubt and fear for a split second. I thought do I really want to jump out of a plane 10,000 feet up? Yes! This is exactly what I want to do. Looking back this process brings to mind the saying “be careful what you ask for” because I was about to discover something amazing. 

I waited nervously for the plane to arrive. I was shocked when Kip pulled up in a Cessna 182 straight out of the 50s. As I boarded I noticed this was nothing like any plane I had ever been on or seen on TV. There was no carpet or much of an interior. Skydive stickers and duck tape seemed to be the only thing holding her together, I knew I was in for the flight of a lifetime. I was to find out later that the only thing that really mattered was that it had a big motor and propeller that could provide the climbing power we needed.

With a roar we were off; no time left to think it over. As we closed in on 10,000 feet my thoughts started to race and I was having a little trouble catching my breath. Am I nuts? What is wrong with me? What was I thinking to make this kind of commitment? But there I was. So I waited for the thrill of a lifetime. It was a beautiful flight up to altitude even though the plane was super sketchy. When we got about halfway up my instructor Dave strapped me up. When we hit an altitude of about 10,000′ we got into the doorway. At this point, I was completely freaking out and shaking. I couldn’t breathe, this was the moment of truth. Then we jumped.

We were plummeting towards the earth from 10,000′. The first few moments were absolutely terrifying, but after a second an unbelievable feeling of joy, happiness and calmness completely consumed my being. I was thinking to myself, I am free, nothing can stop me now. The free fall lasted about 42 seconds. Then the shoot deployed with a roar and violently jolted me out of that calm peaceful place, but just like the free fall the fear dissipated quickly and the quiet calm returned.

The whole thing was absolutely incredible, life-changing. I knew the entire course of my life had just been altered. This is the ultimate challenge I had been searching for. After we landed I remember standing up and saying yep, I have found my calling, I am going to be a skydiver. I had no idea how to do it or how I would pay for it, but I  had to do it. 

For the next ten years, Skydiving completely dominated my life, in a good way. I knew this was gonna be my thing and I was determined to accomplish this.
I will always have a special place for those first unforgettable moments of jumping from Kip’s sketchy duct-taped plane.  moment.

Looking back at how drastically this experience changed my life is crazy. Sometimes it’s so hard to believe that I became a licensed skydiver with several ratings, a tandem instructor coach, an accelerated free fall instructor, and a professional skydiver. For the past 17 years, I have been doing what I love for a living.
I have to say, skydiving really changed my life. It is what led me to become a professional tandem base instructor something I take great pride in, but then again that’s another story.