As most of the Gheorghies know, I jumped out of an airplane yesterday with FOGTB Kevin Reynolds, veteran of more than 4,000 jumps of his own. It's a bit of a copout to say that words can't describe the experience, but it's also mostly true. It was a cocktail of adrenaline, nausea, fear, euphoria and release. And it was completely, utterly, entirely a blast.I've uploaded raw footage from Reynolds' GoPro to my Google Drive for your viewing pleasure/mocking fun. I'll do the same with the professionally produced HD video, as well, but I don't have that with me. (Note that I can't share anything in Google Drive publicly, so I've only shared with the email addresses I have for FOGTB. If you can't view it, shoot me a note.)
Before you watch, a couple of observations:
- It's really damn hard to look cool wearing the egg-shaped leather beanie/helmet required of all tandem jumpers.
- I didn't feel terribly nervous at any point, but you sure wouldn't know that by the look on my face in the first few moments of this video. My face looks frozen.
- Zman and Mark may catch a few glimpses of my Rod Lavers, one of which came untied mid-jump.
- Careful observers will also enjoy the t-shirt I chose for the adventure.
- The video is about 8 minutes long. Feel free to skip through the middle section, unless you'd like to hear the conversation I have with Reynolds.
The whole thing, from boarding the plane to landing, lasted maybe 20 minutes. Much of it, as you might imagine, is a blur. I remember saying 'holy shit!' a lot.
Which is completely inadequate to the moment.
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12 comments:
if anyone has a better idea for sharing the video, i'm all ears
I have those same Lavers, the winter colorway.
Pretty awesome. I must not be at my midlife crisis point.
No flying squirrel label?
fixed it
nice work, marls
I'm not a big fan of heights. I think I would literally have a heart attack if I tried this. I rapelled down a 30' wall once and almost soiled myself.
Garrett rapelled out of TR's freshman dorm window using misappropriated ROTC equipment. Campus police noticed and he booked when they showed up, leaving Spec and me standing outside the dorm with the cops, denying any knowledge of the event or the perpetrator. No one was soiled.
My one and only skydiving experience was several weeks after separating from the ex wife. (I made sure the will was updated so there would be no windfall if my carcass was splattered across eastern Long Island)
I concur with Rob on the overall experience, but I'm not sure I would do it again.
mark, you got the nba draft preview locked up? where's marcus going?
Lunch today at Tortuga's followed by a nap. Good stuff.
I planned on napping both days this weekend. Went 0 for 2. Total bullshit.
If you have a daughter and you like basketball, take a few mins to read this:
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/2015/06/21/love-and-basketball-father-daughter-and-the-bonds-the-game/AZgimJ4J9x38Pu9JW0UokO/story.html
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