Tandem
Tandem parachuting has revolutionized the way most people make their first jump. As a tandem passenger, you arrive at the dropzone, will sit through a 15 to 20 minute class, get suited up and you’ll be off to the plane with your tandem master. You take a short plane ride to an altitude of almost 2 miles. Your tandem master takes care of making sure you are all harnessed up, gets you to the door and exits with you strapped to his chest. After almost 1 minute of freefall (which can be videoed) the tandem opens the parachute and you descend slowly for almost 5 minutes under the parachute. The ease of this type of first jump, and the long freefall and canopy ride, coupled with the ability to have a full video with music and titles, and even photographs, makes it the most popular choice.

Accelerated Freefall (AFF)
Accelerated freefall is where you spend a whole day in ground school learning about your parachute equipment, how to exit the aircraft, fall stable, open and fly your parachute to the ground safely. At all times you will be accompanied by 2 jumpmasters who will teach you on the ground and even in the freefall portion through the use of hand signals. The AFF jump can be videoed and made into a a movie for your enjoyment and accelerated learning. After making your first jump you can continue with your AFF course and in as little as 7 jumps you could be jumping on your own.

Static Line
An economical way to make your first jump is by making a static line. A static line involved making a solo jump, wearing your own parachute which is opened by a line attached to the plane. To make a static line jump you first have to take a 4 to 5 hour ground school which teaches you to how to exit the aircraft, fall stable and then fly and land your parachute safely. After several more static line jumps you will be progressed onto freefall where you open your own parachute. Approximately 20 jumps later you can graduate to jumping on your own.

All of these methods are developed by the BPA to be an efficient and safe way to learn to skydive. Please give us a call with any questions you may have.