A year and a half ago I never thought I would be able to fly. I never thought that I would be capable of the things that I am doing today. Through the inspiration of my friends and heroes, I have been able to pursue a sport that is unlike any other in the world. The sport of parachuting, with its many facets, is an amazing one. The ability to put on a parachute and go jump out of anything, anywhere, is so freeing, and is one of the best feelings that I have ever experienced. Being thousands of feet above the ground, with the only thing keeping you up being a bunch of nylon and strings, the feeling is undescribable.
I had the opportunity to do another balloon jump recently, and it was really fun. The balloon is an interesting flying machine. You can't steer it, you can't control it, the only thing that you can do is make it go up or down. When it is really cold outside, the ballon will gain altitude really quickly, and in less than 10 minutes, we had already gone from 5,000 feet above sea level to 10,000. Jumping out of a balloon 5,000 feet above the ground is fun as you can take 15-20 seconds of freefall before deploying your parachute. I jumped out with Jake, and we both did several backflips out of the basket before getting stable and then pulling our parachutes. It was a fun jump, and any time that I get to see the beautiful town of Boulder from the sky is a special experience.
(boulder from 10,000 feet)
Another fun flying machine that I have is my power kite. This is a 50 square foot nylon parachute with kite lines on it, and if there's enough wind it will pull really hard. Here's a video of me setting a new personal land speed record with the kite (with speed to rival any olympic runner).
Going Fast with my Kite
I had the opportunity to do another balloon jump recently, and it was really fun. The balloon is an interesting flying machine. You can't steer it, you can't control it, the only thing that you can do is make it go up or down. When it is really cold outside, the ballon will gain altitude really quickly, and in less than 10 minutes, we had already gone from 5,000 feet above sea level to 10,000. Jumping out of a balloon 5,000 feet above the ground is fun as you can take 15-20 seconds of freefall before deploying your parachute. I jumped out with Jake, and we both did several backflips out of the basket before getting stable and then pulling our parachutes. It was a fun jump, and any time that I get to see the beautiful town of Boulder from the sky is a special experience.
(boulder from 10,000 feet)Another fun flying machine that I have is my power kite. This is a 50 square foot nylon parachute with kite lines on it, and if there's enough wind it will pull really hard. Here's a video of me setting a new personal land speed record with the kite (with speed to rival any olympic runner).
Going Fast with my Kite
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