The Front Porch

We were nearly two miles above earth in a perfectly normal Cessna 182. The door opens and I'm told to get out. I'm tethered to Dave, the jump-master, who has a parachute on his back. Before I can have a single thought, we jump backwards off the plane, then go head first toward the ground, and a brief belly down fall before the chute opened. Dave and I reached an estimated 120 mph in our 5,000 foot free-fall.

Once we reached 6,000 feet, Dave pulled the rip chord, the parachute opened, and sent me deep into my harness. Though it took less than 30 seconds to go the first 5,000 feet, I was able to enjoy a 15 minute float back to the airport. To give you an idea of the view, we were 50 miles away from Greenville. I could see downtown Greenville and even locate a couple buildings. Of course Greenville wasn't the only cool view. I saw the beautiful interweaving of lakes and mountains, the Oconnee Nuclear Plant and dam, and an awesome view of the Clemson campus.

People ask questions like, "Were you scared?" I only had one moment of fear, which came at 5,000 feet when another diver jumped out. I was able to look out the door, see the tiny houses below, and then watch this guy let go of the plane. I thought, "Your crazy, man." Then I thought, "Wait, I'm next only higher up; I'm crazy, man."

People also ask if I'd do it again. I don't even have to hesitate to answer. You bet I would.

I love it when people ask about how I snuck this one by Laurie. I didn't. She snuck it by me. She knew that I had a desire to jump every since I was a kid. She arranged the jump for my 30th birthday.