Maybe, dear reader, it has crossed your mind. Perhaps it did so when you were sitting idly at your work desk, clicking around some viral videos of wingsuiters high-fiving over a mountain somewhere. Maybe it was a feeling that gripped you as you checked out a friend’s grinning tandem skydiving video. Heck — you might have even thought about it lying on your back in the park, looking up at clouds. How easy is it to learn to skydive? What do you have to, like, do?
You’d be shocked at how easy it is. Most folks are! You see: Skydiving has never been easier to learn, so this challenge is totally within your grasp.
Saddle Up on a Skydive Built For Two
A tandem jump is the most common way to be introduced into the sport of skydiving. A tandem is where you jump with an experienced tandem instructor who wears a parachute built for two, and you, you will wear a harness to be attached to the instructor. Making a tandem skydive isn’t necessarily a requirement in order to become a skydiver, but it is the way the Skydive Chicago program is designed. (Most first time jumpers are super glad they did.) Even if you already know that skydiving is for you, doing a tandem is an excellent introduction that teaches you some key things: namely, the general procedures of a skydive and what freefall feels like, both of which are kinda key.
Crack the Books
Okay, we don’t really mean that — but you’re definitely going to need to go to school. Skydiving school, that is! Here at Skydive Chicago, we teach new skydivers to jump using the Accelerated Freefall Progression (AFP) curriculum and the ground training is all done online – aside from the in person practical. Discover more HERE.
The AFP course will pair you up with an eminently experienced instructor to teach you the skills needed to exit an airplane, fly your body, deploy your parachute and land. Our AFP program consists of 18 training jumps – after completing 2 tandem jumps – that add skills to your repertoire on every jump. After each jump, you and your instructor will debrief your performance, and you’ll return to the plane with the confidence that you’re getting there with this whole “learning to solo skydive” thing.
Before you know it, you’ll be the proud owner of a brand-new solo skydiving A-license stamp in your very own skydiving logbook, and you’ll be able to jump pretty much anywhere in the world with your friends.
Attend an Event or Continuing Education
Skydive Chicago is a destination skydiving center. Meaning – it’s a one stop shop for skydivers of all levels to learn and level up. We have events for all skill levels (from newbie to pro) and in all disciplines all season long. Check out one of our amazing events or continuing education courses on our EVENT CALENDAR!
So: Are you ready to get to make learning to skydive your next big thing? We bet you are! With any luck, your skydiving videos are going to be what inspires the next generation of upwards-lookers and yearning cloud-gazers — and Skydive Chicago’s awesome program makes it so that learning to skydive in Chicago has never been easier! This is your moment, so let’s do this.
