The parachute you will jump is a standard student size (280 square feet) and so designed with these limits in mind. If you're over, you won't be able to jump!
WEATHER
The greatest cause of pain for all skydivers everywhere. The BPA states that weather conditions are to be interpreted by the elected CCI (main instructor person in charge). Our CCI, Dennis, used to be pretty strict but has loosened up in recent months. The basic BPA requirements are:
Cloud – Good visibility and broken cloud is required for all forms of
skydiving, and the cloud base should be no lower than your parachute
deployment altitude. (For RAPS, that's 3,500ft)
Wind – The maximum ground speed for Tandems is 20kts and for Raps and AFF 15kts.
However the decision lies ultimately in Dennis' hands, so if he's feeling generous, you may stand a better chance!
* A WORD OF ADVICE * - never, ever ask Dennis 'Do you think we'll be able to jump?' or 'Do you reckon the weather will clear up?' or anything similar. He hates it...in fact, all CCIs hate it, because they simply can't give you an answer!
DISABILITY
You can still skydive if you suffer from a disability, but you will need doctors consent and will need to contact the parachute centre to arrange details and ensure they can accommodate you. Depending upon the nature of your disability, there may be restrictions as to which type of course you can do.
GLASSES
There are goggles available for students who wear glasses and contact lenses so don’t worry about this. However when you first start skydiving you probably won't need them, as you don't fall far enough to reach terminal velocity (aprox. 120 mph!) Skydiving requires the same standard of vision as driving- you should be able to read a car number plate at 25 yards.
CLOTHING
The main issue is shoes (although if you smile sweetly you can probably get away with most things). Make sure you wear comfy footwear that won't fall off while you're 2,000ft up in the air! Boots with hooks (i.e., Timberlands or anything similar) aren't great as there is a tiny risk of the hooks catching on your parachute, so if you wear those you'll have to tape them up (not the best look in the world!) No open-toed shoes or sandals, obviously no heels and yes, you do have to wear shoes. Trainers are best.
Clothing wise just dress warm- it gets very cold high up! But nothing too bulky, as you'll be given a rather dashing-looking fluorescent orange jumpsuit to wear over your own clothes.
Bring gloves! Your fingertips can turn to ice under canopy on a cold day. Make sure they have a decent grip- and although it sounds dodgy, many people put latex gloves inside their ordinary gloves as 'liners', to keep their hands warm.
MISC
You obviously can't jump when drunk or under the influence of drugs, although in the mornings I swear most of us are still drunk from the night before when we get in the plane (but believe me, a skydive is the best cure for a hangover!)
At Cark they have 'beer lights', which you'll find at most dropzones. When those get switched on in the evening, it means jumping has finished for the day and you can start drinking, so look out for them.
