Hot-air balloon jump
Jumping out of a hot-air balloon was my dream ever since I started skydiving. I was so happy to hear that it'll be offered at this year's boogie at my local dropzone! I didn't have to think twice about that. The night before the jump, I got little sleep. I had to get up at 4:00 am to meet the others two hours later. It was six of us: four jumpers, one guest and the pilot. We took our gear and drove to the starting point. It was chosen according to the wind conditions, having the highest chance of flying over our dropzone. One can't steer a hot-air balloon at all, so we had to hope for the best. Setting up the balloon took us about 20–30 minutes. We geared up quickly and took off. At first, I felt the wind blowing. After gaining some forward speed, the wind noise stopped. We admired the beautiful sunset and waited for our exit point.
Unfortunately, the wind direction changed a few kilometers before our dropzone. We knew that we'd never reach it. After discussing our options, we decided to land on a small field near a country road, so the ground team could pick us up. We had to leave the balloon two people at a time, otherwise the balloon would shoot up in the air after losing too much weight at once. The first group jumped simultaneously. After a five-second delay, both parachutes opened perfectly.
My partner and I got ready for the jump and waited for our pilot's OK. Kneeling at the edge of the basket was an unbelievable moment. It was so quiet that I could even hear my heart pounding hard. But surprisingly, I wasn't scared. I've finally learned to turn my fear into a positive excitement. After a few seconds we were allowed to jump. My partner started the count: ready — set — go! He jumped a moment before me capturing my exit on the camera.
I expected to spin over due to the dead air, but my body position was perfect right away. The plan was to pull 5–10 seconds after the exit, leaving enough time and space for my partner to open his parachute safely. In fact, I pulled after 3 seconds, as I was told later. Then I waited for the usual drag caused by an opening parachute. In free fall at 200 km/h, it takes just a moment. But here in dead air it felt like an eternity. Just as I wanted to look back to check if something was wrong, I felt the known drag and watched my parachute open. Now was the time to scream for joy! The jump wasn't over yet, though. I had to land on a field surrounded by a river, railway lines, roads and buildings. There was no margin for error.
Fortunately, the wind conditions were great, and I had plenty of time to plan a safe landing. A few minutes later, I joined the other jumpers on the ground celebrating the event.
I've had some awesome skydiving moments, and this was one of the best for sure. I'm looking forward to repeating it someday!