Have you ever tried skydiving?

Last weekend, a group of thrill seekers set a new Colorado skydiving record when 69 people dropped from planes over the Vance Brand Municipal Airport in Longmont, according to the Longmont Times-Call.

The previous state record was 56, set in Lamar in 2008.

The skydivers leaped from planes at 15,300 feet and grabbed ahold of each other long enough for a photo. Their ages ranged from 19 to 67.

The organizer of the event, Jim McCormick of Estes Park, called the feat an enormous undertaking.

A group of friends and I decided to try skydiving quite a few years ago. We loaded up the cars and headed to the airport near Fort Collins. After several hours of training, we put on our parachutes and boarded the small airplane for our static-line jump, that's where a cord stays connected to the plane and opens your chute for you.

It was the most terrifying experience of my life, stepping out of the airplane into nothing. We were supposed to "arch, count to five and check our parachutes," luckily it was a static-line jump because all of us forgot to count in all the excitement.

The floating down part was the best, it felt like you weren't even falling, looking around at all the beautiful Colorado scenery. Then came the landing.

I'm glad I didn't jump first, because as I neared the ground, I saw my friends sprawled out in the farm field yelling to me, "don't forget your PLF." That's the Parachute Landing Fall we were all taught, but as you're floating down so gracefully, it doesn't seem like you'd need it. At the end though, the Earth seems to jump up at you very quickly. So thanks to Don and Dave, my landing was a little smoother.

We had so much fun, we did a second jump. Now I no longer have a fear of heights.

 

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