Out and About: Tandem Skydiving with Ciana

Last month Ciana, a member of our Product Team, took the ultimate plunge and went tandem skydiving in Wiltshire. Let’s find out how she got on…

“Arriving at Skydive London I was unsure if the weather would hold up, but it did! My experience started with training from H, one of the very funny instructors who had done 1,800 skydives! I learnt all about how skydiving works, the correct position to jump in and how to land. After getting kitted out in a very (un)flattering jumpsuit, leather hat and body harness, I was led to the area to meet my tandem partner. Jon was so friendly and reassuring that I wasn’t scared that I was about to jump out of an aeroplane at 10,000 feet!

We climbed into the light aircraft and began the ascent; the view across beautiful British countryside was amazing. All the way up to 10,000 feet my instructor was talking me through the steps and reminding me of what to do when we got out of the plane.

Then we hit 10,000 feet, the door was opened and the cabin filled with air, I was the first to go so we edged towards the open door. I hung my legs over the edge whilst Jon did the same, then 3…2…1…we were out… in the air…falling…fast!

The wind rushing past was so loud that I couldn’t hear anything but looking around was amazing, I was smiling so much my mouth filled up with air and my whole face was jiggling – the adrenaline rush was incredible!

The freefall felt much longer than 30 seconds, but once we reached a certain level the parachute was activated and felt like we were pulled upwards. My heart was racing so quickly and I kept giggling because I couldn’t believe I’d just jumped out of a plane.

When we were going down with the parachute Jon did some cool spins which felt like a roller-coaster ride, we were getting lower and lower and then landed. Having my feet on the ground felt so strange, I had jelly legs but I was full of adrenaline and ecstatically happy.

My jump was filmed by a professional skydiving cameraman also called Jon and I showed it to my whole family who laughed hysterically at my wobbling face, but congratulated me on my bravery!

The skydive was an exhilarating experience that I will never forget and will definitely do again!”

Are you brave enough to try tandem skydiving?