Sky Diving At Seventy Three

Why do people do skydiving? Is it not risky and dangerous? Are these guys mad or out of their mind? Craziest of the crazy?

Skydiving gives you a thrill. Thrill beyond words. Because you dive from an aircraft for a free fall! Hurtling down to the earth below at a speed of 200 kms an hour! And before you get scared of crashing on the ground, the parachute opens and arrests your speed. Then the gradual descent begins. Sounds cool? Or, scary? Have you done it? Would you like to do it?

I recently did skydiving with Ankur our son-in-law, Nikhil our elder grandson and two other friends Satyam and Sachi the father-daughter duo, in California. It was an adventure beyond words. The feeling of having done it is like climbing a summit. Am grateful to God that I could do it at my 'young' age of 73! Of course the other thrilling aspect was that three generations did it together. Same day, same aircraft, same height but two dives! We all couldn't be accommodated in one sortie as explained later.

It was a long wait before our turn for the dive came. Let the pictures do the talking.

After three hours, Sachi, Nikhil and Ankur got their turn. The jubilant trio returning after the dive.

Each skydiver is thoroughly briefed and kitted up before boarding the flight.

Time to board the single engine plane for the air drop.

Ready to go!

See the short video of my parachute coming in for landing.

Finally, the touch down! Felt dehydrated.

Sharing below a video showing the highlights of the skydive.

Special thanks to Ankur and Ashi for making it happen. In Neeta's absence, Ashi tried her best to dissuade all of us from doing it. She even interviewed Clark one of the experienced instructors, about the safety measures and the risk involved. Thank you Ashi for relenting and let us do it!

Location

Bay Area Skydiving is located in Byron, California.

Cost of a Dive

We thank Bay Area Skydiving in California for giving us a lifetime experience. Bookings can be made online contact ID jump@bayareaskydiving.com. Week day dives are a bit cheaper. The dive costs USD  300 per person for up to 60 seconds free fall from a height of 15,000 feet. There is a discount of USD 10 for students and military personnel.. Videography charges are extra and vary from USD 100 to 200.

Other Adventure Stories

We are sharing below a story of another adventure sport called 'paramotoring' where you fly in the sky like a paratrooper! Heard about it? If not, then browse the link below for a picture story:

Paramotoring in Hyderabad - Shows what a paratrike is like. It includes the picture story of a 'young' lady who celebrated her 63rd birthday doing paramotoring after reading our blog! She called it a glorious experience.

Here is another story of four young women hiking in a river having chest high water with strong current! They had left their children behind! Sounds crazy? Browse the link below:

Women Hiking In Water - Picture story of four young moms hiking in a flowing river for 25 kms!

We end with a PQ picturesque quote about life and the spirit of adventure.

Hope our story has shaken you to rise above your comfort zone! Take risks and enjoy life.

Thanks for browsing and stay connected.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Pleasanton, USA/ 7th Aug 2025

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