I was still in training and had gotten past the last jump which was after the skydiving accident on the second day.  One of the skydivers that at the training facility had the same situation happen to him when he was training so he understood the mental aspects of this part of the sport.  He also just happened to be the son of the ground school fitness instructor so I found a surprising comrade in this individual.  The trainers were simply on point when I was around the facility.  No matter how good your physical fitness is if your mental health is not in line then skydiving can be as unforgiving as any other sport if not more so.

I started the Arizona day with my final practice rip cord pull, which I was glad to get past.  The ride down was just fine and I was getting more comfortable with canopy control.  I was cleared to do the clear and pull which involved a small freefall before the canopy opens.  The basic idea is to arch, reach, pull without the static line.  When we were on the ground the instructor asked me what I would do if I ended-up on my back and the answer was to pull anyway.

I had a good climb-out onto the wing and exited well.  I immediately lost my arch and went over onto my back.  I tried to recover for a second and was somewhat disappointed with myself when I pulled while on my back.  It worked.  The spring loaded training shoot shot away and opened just fine.  I had to do a bit more bicycling out of the line tangles yet I was happy for the experience.  I had good canopy control on the way down and landed nearly perfectly.

My girlfriend was on the ground watching and had a bit of a scare from my poor body positioning.  She is a bit of a talker and asks many questions, which I appreciate because she would give me the inside scoop on everything from equipment to how to skydive safely.

Things happen very quickly while skydiving and to do nothing is an active motion.  The big take away from the Arizona day was to follow procedure.  They are there to keep you alive.

When I got to the ground I practiced the arch for quite some time.  I found the position rather unnatural and difficult to maintain while on the ground.  I decided that I would practice the position all week whenever I got a chance.  In all of my sports background I had never had much use for this position so it took effort to get it to start feeling comfortable.