This is another 2 way jump with jane, and we are going to do the same exit, but, this time im going to position myself differently in freefall to sort out the backsliding issue, that when jumping alone, im completley unaware of. this time, we are first out of the plane. 15,000 feet, in the door, hold on the each others arm grips, shake, leg out in out, and away we go, and, even more surprisingly for us both, this exit was better than the last one, straight into a stable position. we turn a few times, break apart, then link back together, a few more turns, release, and link back together.

We stayed at the same level, within around 1-2 feet but were able to link back up, and, i wasnt sliding backwards, result 😀

At 6,000 feet, we waved each other away, turned and tracked, and again, i pulled at 4,000 feet. When my canopy opened, what looked like the entire left side, was completley collapsed, so i think to myself ‘a few flares and they will pop open’ and as i reach up, im thrown sideways, into a hard turn, and nearly looking at the floor. Instantly, my heart is in my mouth, and my arse is biting my leg straps. Thinking has sped up, time has slowed down, and suddenly everything is like watching a youtube video, its not really happening to me.

I reach up to the toggles, looking at my altimeter at the same time, im at 3,300 feet, 3 of the 7 cells of my canopy are not inflated, im nearly horizontal, im spinning anticlockwise, harder than im used to, and im aware of all of this information, instantly. Is this normal?

I get my hands in the steering toggles, i give them both a good hard pull, i pull them again, and again, and hear what i can only think of as a soft ‘floomph’ sound, then, my whole world calms right down. My heart is playing the bongos on my ribs, my arse is trying to chew the life out of my jump suit, and the little wierd voice that lives in the back of my head is saying ‘But you still dont know if your reserve canopy actually works or not’

The rest of the canopy ride was uneventfull, but, the jump as a whole was great fun, the linked exit was sweet, the freefall was brill, and the first few seconds of the canopy ride were ‘surreal’ but also, i hope, showed me how i may possibly react in an emergency situation, possibly being completley focused on what is happening, instead of freezing and freaking out

But, overall, a nice fun and enjoyable jump 🙂