I have to say that everyone's most fantastic experience is a winner! Everyone's most fantastic experience is unique and is magically fantastic. That's why I think this is so important. I thank everyone that has posted their fantastic experiences. It enriches all of us.
Finally, I have a couple of my fantastic experiences. I have at least one more yet to come. Still having to balance work with life...
One of my most fantastic experiences involves a very misunderstood activity: skydiving. I must first address this very common misperception. It is widely believed that the sport of skydiving is all about adrenaline rush thrill-seeking, daredevil, risk-taking, throwing caution to the wind, etc. etc. etc.… Indeed, many people skydive for these reasons, but it is not restricted to that. Skydiving can be a very tranquil, safe experience. The equipment is super reliable. It’s the behavior that is dangerous. Example: one can drive a car safely, or dangerously. It depends on the driver. However, due to the skydiving misperception, anytime there is a skydiving accident, the news media claims the parachute failed to open. That is essentially always falsely reported. However, when news reports on an auto accident, it never considers a fault of the car, always the driver.
I am not a risk-taker in any form to any degree. I never engage in anything I perceive as dangerous. Before I engage in any action, I must have a detailed understanding of exactly how it works. That is true for me with any type of vehicle whether it is a car, bicycle, or skydiving equipment.
I have made over nine hundred skydives and none of them falls into the category of “daredevil” or “thrill-seeking”. It took about a year for a skydiving instructor to cover all the technical bases with me sufficient that I understood it from one end to the other and exhausting any elements of danger. The skydiving parachute – actually called canopy – is an inflatable wing with the same functional characteristics as an airplane wing. Landings are typically softer than landing an escalator in a department store. It is completely controllable, including direction, speed and decent rate.
I do not recommend everyone rush out to a local skydiving center. The center I started at presented a very strong emphasis on safety. A dare-devil attitude would get you expelled. Nothing risky was ever tolerated. I was used to that and assumed all skydiving centers was like that. I stopped skydiving in 2005 because of moving to a new city. There are more skydiving centers here, however all of them promote a high testosterone, dare-devil orientation. I did not feel welcome there and felt looked down on because I did not act with a macho, testosterone attitude. Also, they did not like that I only wanted to do solo jumps. They expected everyone to do formation flying. But, that ruined it for me. Formation flying is too social. I skydived only for the tranquility. So, I quit.
Back to my begining in skydiving: It was on my first few training skydives that I discovered (shocked) that it is the most serene, tranquil and peaceful experience I have ever had. A fantastic experience in itself. Floating high above the earth in perfect, serene solitude, with no chance of anyone approaching me with judgment, was like heaven. I never did a tandem jump – where one is attached to an experience jump master. All my preliminary training jumps were static line solo (canopy opens automatically upon release from the airplane). My first freefall was a fantastic experience in itself. Upon leaving the airplane, I felt like I had stopped in mid-air. I felt like I was being supported by something. Like I was lying on something. There was no falling sensation, but I watched the airplane fly away. It was a bit disorienting because I couldn’t imagine what was supporting me; what I was lying on. Finally, I remembered what I was taught in class was more true than I imagined. The air pressure against me equals my body weight (called terminal velocity) which cancels any sense of falling. Also, the ground was not rushing up at me. I was too far above the earth to be able to visually sense my fall rate. I only knew I was falling by my altimeter. I just relished the incredibility tranquil feeling and the feeling of being high in the sky over-viewing the world with nothing attached. The greatest feeling of freedom I ever experienced. It was such an incredible experience I wrote a poem about it (I added it to the end of this post). Note: a typical skydive consists of riding to altitude in an aircraft, directing the pilot with hand motions to pinpoint the plane directly over the area you want to jump from (called spotting), then exit the aircraft for about one minute of free-fall, then open the canopy at about 3,000 feet above ground level (AGL), Then fly the canopy to your landing spot.
Fast forward a few years and about a hundred jumps to my most fantastic experience.
July 1992
Mountains In The Sky:
Since the winds were perfect, three of us decided to make a cross country jump. A cross country jump is to exit the aircraft at a relatively high altitude: 12,000 to 14,000 feet and open the canopy right out of the aircraft for a very long canopy ride; about 12 miles across country. There were three of us; Steve, Theresa and me. I exited first and opened immediately. It was so smooth. I watched Theresa exit and open, then Steve. I watched their deployment. A beautiful scene. The plane and two jumpers in the picture view with their canopies stringing up in deployment. All against a fantastic backdrop of bright white clouds against a deep blue sky. I quickly made an 180 degree turn heading for the airport (landing area). I wrapped my brake lines around my fingers and hooked my thumbs in the large ring of the "3 ring" to get a comfortable way to maintain half brakes for the long ride. I noticed Steve and Theresa was full flight and quickly passed me up, however, before they got even with me they were already well below me. I guessed they intended to fly under the clouds. It was not long before they were very tiny in the distance among those gigantic clouds. The scene was astounding; literally breathtaking. This view was profoundly beyond anything I have ever witnessed in my life (before or since). No picture, no view from an airplane window, nothing on a movie screen, nothing Hollywood could ever create or imagine could even come close. The clouds were mountains – giant mountains of bright pristine clean satin white with shades of blue. It was a fantasy land where the mountain clouds are the landscape that extends forever. Eventually, I was directly over the mountainous "landscape". I could not get over the grand scale of these clouds. Their shapes were so defined they looked like giant mountains of heavenly clean frost white stone. In a perpetual state of awe, I studied the cloud landscape below me for several minutes. After quite a while I slowly descended down to the mountain peaks. I was in a forest of towering peaks, flying my canopy slowly between the towers studying their shapes, flying within inches of their "surfaces". I flew through the edge of one, which made me gasp as if I was going to hit something solid. Below me was the brilliant frost blue "cloud ground". It looked solid, like clean snow but smoother. After a few minutes, I reached the "surface". It made me gasp to watch my toes slowly disappear into the cloud, then my ankles, then my knees, waist... It was like being slowly lowered into water. I watch the "ground" of the cloud come up to my chin then everything is now solid, pure white. After about five minutes I felt like I was turning. It was very difficult to keep from compensating. I kept telling myself that your mind will play tricks like that in the absence of stimulus. I could see nothing but white. The air felt dream like smooth flowing so softly around my face. The air smelled so clean and everything was so quiet. I kept my hands and fingers as still as I could even though I felt like I had turned completely around and was going the wrong way. About another 15 or 20 minutes passed and finally at 6,000 feet the brilliant greens of the brightly lit Earth below abruptly flashed into view. I was shocked! I was there! Just slightly south of the end of the runway! I quickly made an 180 degree turn, unwrapped the brake lines from my fingers and adjusted to hover over the end of the runway. Looking over my shoulder, I watched Steve and Theresa land. Several minutes later I make it to the ground for a smooth escalator landing. The fantasy level amazement of that experience - of being there - lasted a very long time. Indeed, 30 years later, it still takes my breath away.
Here is the poem I wrote in 1991 shortly after my first few free-falls:
FREEDOM
The wind lifts me
As I fly to freedom
Through the open door.
Loose and free in the sky,
High above the Earth,
I watch the winged cage fly away.
This secret magical world,
Composed of serene virgin air,
Engulfs me in tranquility.
I lay upon the satin air.
It supports me without hindrance.
It moves me as my heart desires.
No strings attached…
Nothing to restrict…
I fly.
Lone and mountainous clouds I visit.
Warm, wondrous landscape
Of this boundless pristine world.
Fantastic shapes that dwarf my imagination.
I am sad to leave
This magical world of freedom.
I am happy
That it fondly awaits my return.
Ken Thomas
July 1991
It really does look just like in the pictures, but it's one thing to see that in a tiny photo with nothing else in frame and another to see it in real life, just a pitch-black glowing hole in the world. The temperature drops. Animals that wake up at dusk come out early. The whole environment changes. I'm not religious but it felt like a glimpse of God.
