Going to Xtremes - Chute to thrill
Konrad Pulé gets blown away and tells how it feels like to take the plunge from 4,000 metres.
Insane as it may sound, I have always dreamt of jumping off from a plane. I anticipated that the experience of falling down to earth would send adrenaline shivers down my spine and that the view from up there would be to dive for.
It certainly was. I did my first skydive when I was 17. At the time, there was a company that operated locally and as soon as I saw their advert for tandem skydives, I convinced another six friends to join me on a trip to Gozo and the sky above it. So we got to the sister island and I proceeded to strap myself to a parachute (and to an instructor). Then we got aboard a tiny plane, the kind that you would not even dream of getting on to travel between the two islands. We sat for 20 minutes while we climbed up to 4,000 metres. To put it in perspective, that is over 1,300 storeys.
Then suddenly, my feet were dangling out of the plane and I was looking down into the clouds. All I could think of was the immensity and depth of it all. But that was only for a few seconds because soon after, I was hurtling to the ground at a speed which was soon hovering near the 200 kilometres per hour mark. What seemed like only a few seconds later, the instructor opened our parachute and we made a safe landing.
From that very first skydive, I got hooked to the sport because, compared to other extreme sports I have tried so far, the adrenaline rush is unbeatable. Within a couple of months, I had already signed up for the course to obtain my licence as soon as I turned 18.
To obtain a skydiver's licence, there are two courses available - the Static-Line course and the Accelerated Freefall course (AFF). The main difference is that with Static-Line you start at lower altitudes and progress from there on is based on student performance. On the other hand, with the AFF course you get to jump from higher altitudes with instructors who guide you through the jumps. Both courses include parachute packing training, landing techniques and safety procedures. These courses, which can then lead to other specialised forms of skydiving such as sky-surfing and free-flying, are both available across Europe and cost from Lm300 (circa €700) to Lm600 (€1,400). Once the licence is obtained, skydives only cost around Lm10 (€23) to Lm12 (€27) per jump across the continent.
Since obtaining my licence, I have had 200 jumps, with the 200th dive being the most spectacular I had ever made. This was from a glider at 1,500 metres - I climbed on the wings and literally fell off. Brilliant.
Unfortunately, I have not jumped in the past two years. The reason is simple: In Malta no skydiving options are available, which is a pity because there is a great potential for the sport, both for locals and even for tourists. This basically means that every time I want to sky dive, I have to go abroad and, with travelling having become quite expensive, I cannot do it as often as I would like.
However, next year I plan to go to Slovakia. This is a great place to skydive without having to get a loan from the bank. And in the past years, I have made a lot of friends there, so it will certainly be great because, even if I have jumped on my own, it is more fun to have people around you and do tricks together in mid-air.
Contrary to what many people may think, skydiving is a relatively safe sport. Every skydiver has two canopies, or parachutes - the main and the reserve - just in case the main does not open. The reserve canopy is maintained by qualified instructors every six to 12 months. Also, there is an automatic activation device connected to the reserve parachute which opens it automatically if the jumper passes out and is unable to open the parachute for whatever reason.
As with other extreme sports, there is a very fine line between being safe and sorry. The key to enjoy skydiving is to follow the rules and safety guidelines and not take unnecessary risks.
Unfortunately, sometimes some skydivers ignore this and most reported skydiving accidents could have been avoided if the skydivers themselves had been more careful.
Unfortunately, what we see on reality shows on TV does not do justice to the safety of the sport because, ultimately, taking the plunge from 4,000 metres is the most amazing experience you can have.
It certainly was. I did my first skydive when I was 17. At the time, there was a company that operated locally and as soon as I saw their advert for tandem skydives, I convinced another six friends to join me on a trip to Gozo and the sky above it. So we got to the sister island and I proceeded to strap myself to a parachute (and to an instructor). Then we got aboard a tiny plane, the kind that you would not even dream of getting on to travel between the two islands. We sat for 20 minutes while we climbed up to 4,000 metres. To put it in perspective, that is over 1,300 storeys.
Then suddenly, my feet were dangling out of the plane and I was looking down into the clouds. All I could think of was the immensity and depth of it all. But that was only for a few seconds because soon after, I was hurtling to the ground at a speed which was soon hovering near the 200 kilometres per hour mark. What seemed like only a few seconds later, the instructor opened our parachute and we made a safe landing.
From that very first skydive, I got hooked to the sport because, compared to other extreme sports I have tried so far, the adrenaline rush is unbeatable. Within a couple of months, I had already signed up for the course to obtain my licence as soon as I turned 18.
To obtain a skydiver's licence, there are two courses available - the Static-Line course and the Accelerated Freefall course (AFF). The main difference is that with Static-Line you start at lower altitudes and progress from there on is based on student performance. On the other hand, with the AFF course you get to jump from higher altitudes with instructors who guide you through the jumps. Both courses include parachute packing training, landing techniques and safety procedures. These courses, which can then lead to other specialised forms of skydiving such as sky-surfing and free-flying, are both available across Europe and cost from Lm300 (circa €700) to Lm600 (€1,400). Once the licence is obtained, skydives only cost around Lm10 (€23) to Lm12 (€27) per jump across the continent.
Since obtaining my licence, I have had 200 jumps, with the 200th dive being the most spectacular I had ever made. This was from a glider at 1,500 metres - I climbed on the wings and literally fell off. Brilliant.
Unfortunately, I have not jumped in the past two years. The reason is simple: In Malta no skydiving options are available, which is a pity because there is a great potential for the sport, both for locals and even for tourists. This basically means that every time I want to sky dive, I have to go abroad and, with travelling having become quite expensive, I cannot do it as often as I would like.
However, next year I plan to go to Slovakia. This is a great place to skydive without having to get a loan from the bank. And in the past years, I have made a lot of friends there, so it will certainly be great because, even if I have jumped on my own, it is more fun to have people around you and do tricks together in mid-air.
Contrary to what many people may think, skydiving is a relatively safe sport. Every skydiver has two canopies, or parachutes - the main and the reserve - just in case the main does not open. The reserve canopy is maintained by qualified instructors every six to 12 months. Also, there is an automatic activation device connected to the reserve parachute which opens it automatically if the jumper passes out and is unable to open the parachute for whatever reason.
As with other extreme sports, there is a very fine line between being safe and sorry. The key to enjoy skydiving is to follow the rules and safety guidelines and not take unnecessary risks.
Unfortunately, sometimes some skydivers ignore this and most reported skydiving accidents could have been avoided if the skydivers themselves had been more careful.
Unfortunately, what we see on reality shows on TV does not do justice to the safety of the sport because, ultimately, taking the plunge from 4,000 metres is the most amazing experience you can have.