Mitchell Aulds-Stier pursues adventure.
He loves pushing the limits and getting involved with a variety of extreme sports. In 2011, Mitchell Aulds-Stier took the opportunity to go solo skydiving over the city of Chicago.
The Thrilling Experience of Skydiving
Skydiving is not everyone's cup of tea, however for those who are looking for the ultimate rush, this is the best way to achieve just that. Skydiving offers something surreal: it unleashes you and makes you feel free.
Mitchell Aulds-Stier describes the feeling you get when free falling through the air as simply amazing and thrilling. It takes you to another place mentally. When falling you feel the adrenaline rush that streams through your body when faced with terminal velocity and excitement. The interesting thing about skydiving is that it distorts your perception of time; although the dive may feel like forever, in actuality it only lasts about a full minute before the parachute opens, slowly floating you to the ground – it was in that moment, that Mitchell Aulds-Stier knew he wanted more.
As there will be a professional skydiver with you, at least for your first time, you will be in capable hands with nothing to worry about. Mitchell Aulds-Stier, however, trained in order to experience solo skydiving, which is an even more thrilling and breathtaking experience. The training will consist of performing maneuvers and conducting drills on chute troubleshooting on the ground to prepare you for the worst-case scenarios. Although he lives an adventurous lifestyle, Mitchell Aulds-Stier was still quite nervous before taking the plunge.
Before taking to jump, Mitchell Aulds-Stier recommends doing power poses to boost your confidence and prepare yourself mentally. Full training is provided and will be required of you to ensure, on the day you are ready and don’t feel so nervous and have an idea of where the dive will be going and what direction you are heading. You will be given a safety briefing that will take you through important information. From there they will provide you with safety equipment such as goggles, jumpsuit and headgear to ensure your safety.
While in the airplane, when you are preparing for the dive, an instructor will be with you to keep you calm and comfortable. The plane will climb steeply until it reaches a safe altitude to jump (15,000 ft., depending on the jump). As the plane nears this altitude, the passenger will begin to reflexively yawn. Also, you'll notice that even on a hot and humid summer day, the temperature drops precipitously. Finally, the crew begins to give the signal that it is time to jump. When the skydive instructors are not jumping with clients, they tend to bum rides to 15,000 ft. to jump with one another. The fearlessness and in-air acrobatics that they exhibit are breathtaking. In this final moment before the jump, it is hard not to feel your heart racing, but Mitchell Aulds-Stier assures you the entire experience is well worth it in the end for any adventure seeker!
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