I am currently an A-licensed skydiver with 36 jumps, and my two jumps were tandems. All but two of my jumps have been made at Skydive Arizona in Eloy, Arizona, including my tandems. That first one was an incredibly spontaneous event. Although I had always wanted to jump, I had feared that I would never get the oppurtunity because my mother used to jump in the early seventies with her, then, fiance. Unfortunately her fiance, Rick, was killed in a skydiving accident two weeks before their wedding in 1974. She had always sworn to me that I’d never get the chance. Well, to make a longs tory even longer, I wanted to see where Rick had died on my first trip to Arizona in 1995 (he had died at a one-time dropzone near Eloy). While at the site of his death, we found out that there was a dropzone in Eloy and I begged my mother to take me there so that I could see the sport in action. As we pulled into the dropzone, I had my head out the window and saw about 22 people just falling out of the sky under canopy. From that sight on I knew I had to jump! My mom had been telling me all the way that I wasn’t going to do it, but after seeing my excitement and talking to a tandem master about how safe it was compared to jumps in the 1970’s, she let me go for it. I had the greatest jumpmaster ever, and soon after arriving there I was suited up and on the plane, embarking on the most amazing event of my life. As we exited the plane from about 14,000 feet above the earth, I felt so incredible. Adrenaline was pumping through me like never before. It was also the sunset load for that day and the view of the sun setting behind the mountains in the distance of the Arizona desert is one that I will never forget. As we fell back to Earth I knew that I was never going to be the same. Even though I have made several more jumps since then, that first tandem is the only one that I remember with such vivid detail. Although this entry is long, it still doesn’t fully explain all that I have to say about my first tandem.

Blue Skies,
Shannon Carter