SKYDIVE BYRON 14,000 FEET OF THRILLS
	APRIL 2004

by Connie Krusi
Photos by Rolf Brombach and Brad Shifflett

My husband and I are managers of Bay Area Skydiving and are in the fortunate position of doing as a business the very thing that we love most of all to do for fun. 

We’ve fallen through a lot of airspace since the first time we jumped through the door of an airplane. The adventure began when we were living in Hawaii and decided as a lark to give a jump to each other as an anniversary present. 

Vic, my husband, was involved in a lot of other activities as a crewmember on a ship in the Coast Guard. However, I immediately was bit hard by the jumping-out-of-airplanes bug. As soon as my feet hit the ground on that first jump I realized what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. My first thought, like thousands and thousands of other first-time jumpers who went before me and since, was, “I gotta do that again.”

GETTING STARTED ON THE FUN 
Most people who jump for the first time have an instant when they become certain that they are going to die. The tough part, of course, is standing on the step at the edge of the door. It’s terrifying when you suddenly realize how long that next step is going to be. 

The only thing I can compare skydiving to is jumping off a high dive into a pool. Going off a high diving board takes courage but as soon as you get into the water you think, “That’s really cool! I gotta try that again.” 

Actually, skydiving is safer than going off diving boards because we never belly flop. Skydiving is a lot safer than standing on the top of an extension ladder putting up Christmas lights. Anytime you get over twelve feet or so in the air without a parachute you should be scared, perhaps. With a chute between your shoulders, no problem! 

We do a good job of prepping people on the ground. We explain how the parachute works, how the safety systems work. By the time they get to 14,000 feet they’ve almost always worked through their misgivings. They’ve made up their minds. In ninety percent of the cases when they get down they really want to do it again. In some cases they buy another jump the same day.