You would think that skydiving all by itself is extreme enough, but there those who want to push the envelope even further and excel at extreme skydiving. Thank goodness, extreme skydiving does not yet involve jumping without any parachute at all. Parachutes are used in both regular and extreme skydiving, but there are other big differences between the two.



A normal skydive, say into a big safe field like you might have in Iowas skydiving, would involve jumping out of a plane, pulling the cord and floating gently to the ground. Needless to say, you have to have mastered basic skydiving like this before you can attempt extreme skydiving. But for those who have done so, and have become a bit bored with it, they are tempted to make things a little more exciting. This is where extreme skydiving comes into play. If you are going to try it, make sure you have another skydiver video it-it ls an experience you will want to record.

During any skydive, there is a period of free fall before the chute is deployed. This is where the difference between ordinary skydiving and extreme skydiving comes in. During this free fall period, extreme skydivers will try to perform various feats. They may get together with others to create patterns in the sky, rather like synchronous swimmers do in the water; some people have been known to get married during the dive-talk about falling for each other! And one intrepid individual who called himself only Jonas, actually got tattooed during the free fall. How extreme can you get?

A non human form of extreme skydiving might be the example of Brutus the Daschund, the canine world record holder for a free fall dive. Brutus' owner, extreme skydive enthusiast Ron Sirull straps the dog to him and dives. Sirull explains in his book "Fleafall" that Brutus does not exhibit any signs that you think a dog would when subjected to a fall such as this. He does not bark or growl and his appetite is not at all affected afterwards. He probably feels very safe in the arms of his trusted owner after 100 such dives. Extreme skydiving is considered out of the mainstream, so you will not see it as an Olympic event, or even watch organized exhibits of it. It is usually some rugged individualists trying to do their thing. It ranks up there with bungee jumping, extreme ironing (this does exist), and base jumping which is illegal because it is so dangerous. To date, there has not been enough involvement in the activity to brand it a sport, with rules and judges, etc. Maybe Bruno the Dog can get started on that!

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