About a month a ago, I had made a post about a guy named Johnny Rippert.  Rippert, a bus driver in Philly, received a gift certificate for a free skydive three years ago from his sons as a birthday present.  Long story short, he said he loved it and it was an amazing experience, yet he has never went skydiving since.

The whole reason for the Johnny Rippert interview was to give the Out of the Blue audience the point of view of someone new to the sport.

I thought it might be interesting to contrast an interview of a novice skydiver to that of a veteran.  That thought brings me to Sebastien Lalaza.

Lalaza works a self-contracted skydiver who spends most of his time working at Freefall Adventures in Williamstown, New Jersey.  Lalaza’s life has been intertwined with skydiving for over 18 years.  The following is his interview that took place Thursday afternoon:

When and where did you first skydive?

- When I was 17.  If I remember right, the place was called Skydive Long Island.

What got you into it? 

- My buddies were going skydiving and I always wanted to go.  

What method did you use on your first jump? 

- Tandem [jump].

What made you go with a tandem jump?

- I knew tandem jumps were the quickest method.  AFF (Accelerated Freefall) was too much money and took too much time.  AFF is good if you have the time and the money, but when I first went, I just wanted to jump right away.

What was going through your head leading up to the jump?

- I thought it was very scary and felt like I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.  When I got into the plane, I felt like didn’t want to go.

How’d you feel once you were in the air?                                                                                  

- I felt relieved.  It was a real thrill…almost like a roller-coaster.

When did you become a certified skydiving instructor?                                                            

- After I finished all my training in 2002.

What are the qualifications to become a certified skydiver?                                                     

- You need a minimum of 500 jumps, be experienced 3 years in the sport and at least 24 hours of freefall.

Does it pay good being a skydive instructor?                                                                            

- It doesn’t.  I’m a self-contracted skydive instructor who works at different places.  I actually used to work in the Army as a paratrooper and took a major pay cut to be an instructor.

What made you leave being a paratrooper behind?                                                                   

- I like being more hands on with the people and being along for their ride.

Do you have the authority to tell one of the customers that they’re not allowed to go skydiving? 

- Yes, absolutely.  If I see someone is not up to go skydiving, either physically or mentally, I get to say if they can go or not.  It is my prerogative to look out for my divers’ safety.

Other than Freefall Adventures, where here else have you worked in the field of skydiving? 

- I’ve been all over the country.  I’ve been in California, New York, and Florida.    

Why would you leave the beautiful weather in California or Florida?  What made you end up Freefall Adventures? 

- ‘Cause of how good Freefall [Adventures] is.  Freefall Adventures is the biggest skydiving sites on the East Coast and is one of the three biggest sites in the country.

Why do you think people skydive?

- Everyone has their own personal reasons.  Here at Freefall, we get people that go for all types of reasons.  We’ll have the grandmother who jumps because she’s been wanting to go her whole life, to the college kids who jump to get a thrill.

What do you think is reason for most people to skydive?  Is it for a thrill or a more calming, spiritual feeling? 

- Most do it for a thrill.  I see a lot of people that’ll go one time and won’t come back to do it again…It’s something to take off the bucket list.

What do you think when you go skydiving now?

- I love it.  I get a thrill from it every time I go.

Do you ever have the fear in the back of your mind that something might go wrong?

- All the time, but I do everything I can to make sure nothing will happen.  I want to make sure everything is in a good state before we jump.  We check the gear before any jump, and all the equipment has manufacture’s approval and have met safety regulations.

Is it cold when you’re free falling?

- It’s one degree colder per every 1,000 feet up.  So on a day like today [at about 36 degrees] when it’s snowing, the air’ll feel like it’s about 28 or 29 degrees.  

Does the cold air get to you?

- Not at all.  You don’t even think about it.  The adrenaline kicks you and overtakes you.

What is your overall synopsis towards skydiving?

- Skydiving might not be be for everybody, but everyone should try it once in your life.  You might not care for it too much, then again, you might have the time of your life.