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Sky Diving

Sky diving is referred to by sky divers as the most fun you can have with your close on or an "air gasm".  Skydivers freefall from planes, helicopters, and even hot air balloons.  Originally ski divers used round canopies or parachutes that stemmed from the military and known as T-10's.  Today almost all ski divers have a square or ram-air canopy for their main chute as well as for their reserve chute.   

If a skydiver experiences a parachute malfunction such as a May West  (usally a line crossing over the center causing a shape like a giant bra) or a streamer (one that fails to inflate) they can "cut-away" their main canopy via a D-ring release and deploy their reserve chute quickly to make a safe landing.  

Sky diving is considered by many to be extremely dangerous but in acutuality the risks are similar to many high action sports.  The most common injuries and twisted or sprained ankles from a bad landing.  I have had many ask me why I would jump out of a perfectly good airplane.  The answer is; I've never been in a perfectly good airplane!  

One off-shute of skydiving is base jumping.   Base jumping stands for Building, Antennae, Span and Earth.  This is the sport of jumping off of fixed object such as a sky scraper, a large FM antennae, a bridge or off of a tall cliff such as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.  One word of advice; check the laws first as most places are illegal or off limits to base jumpers. 

 
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