Vegas Indoor skydiving for the curious adrenaline junkie

It’s the baby step for the passive thrill seeker. Once you get a little taste of the weightlessness, all inhibitions go out the window.  People come from all over to simulate the superpower of flying, and what do you know? It’s right in our backyard.

I arrived at the Vegas Indoor Skydiving facility with a knot in my stomach. I was too embarrassed to admit that I had a little fear of heights. In fact, I’ve rappelled, snowboarded, skated and blasted some pretty big jumps. But for some reason, this one was giving me some problems. I tried to get pumped by listening to a little MSI on the drive down, and that seemed to help… a little.

I walked into the facility, right up to the counter. Manning the desk was Manager Brad Hess. He’s worked here for six years and is well versed in the art of flying. Business seems brisk on this Wednesday evening, and a steady flow of customers fill up each class. Classes have a maximum of 5 students and begin about every 30 minutes.

THE LOWDOWN ON FLYING HIGH

Their prices are as follows: You can get a single flight for $75, an additional flight during the same day for $40, and throw in a DVD of the whole experience for $25. Check out the special packages they have on the website, and you may find a coupon for $10 off.

When I asked Brad if the economy has affected business, he replied quickly, “Not at all. We refuse to participate in the economic downturn.” And the reason behind their success in this slow economy is great walk-in business and a prime location. The owner, Keith Fields, has 11 years in the biz, and took over in 2005. According to their website, they recently changed their name from “Flyaway” to “Vegas Indoor Skydiving.”  But whatever you call it, it’s still the same; a big fan and some Stay Puft Marshmallow Man suits. Oh yeah. And they’ve been doing this longer than anyone in the country.

This facility, the first of its kind, has been here since 1982. But to be honest, I’ve been in Vegas since 2000, and I didn’t know where it was. According to Brad, most of their customers are tourists, but they do get a few locals. And most of those come for birthdays or to redeem Christmas gift certificates.

I decided I had better sign up before I missed out. I made it into the last class of the day.

The class consisted of Kris Mayeshiro, SINNER Photographer; Serge, a tourist from Kumet; Brandon, who was there for his 25th birthday; and myself. Janice, a local who frequents VIS, would be flying with us as well. Alex Blank was our instructor; and after a brief and comical introduction, put on a “training” video while he grabbed our “clown suits.” The video’s main point was: relax; and basically go with the flow. The basic position, according to Alex, is as if you were getting arrested. Having never been arrested (for at least 10 years), I had to remember what that was like. That’s right. It was all coming back to me. I found out that this position, as well as relaxing, were easier said than done. At least for me.

The video also went over hand signals. It’s SO loud in the tunnel, the instructors have to use a series of hand signals to communicate with newbies. Thumbs up, means, “I’m ok” and shaka (sign language for the letter ‘y’) means “relax.” I got that one a lot. Fingers straight out mean “straighten your legs.”

Alex came back and had the class sign airtight legal documents that said we weren’t high, drunk, crazy…or pregnant (I was only two weeks late . And that neither we nor our families would sue if we…I don’t know…DIED or something. (DEATH was bold and double underlined!) Although as far as I know, nobody’s died doing this yet.

Then it was off to the dressing room where we were given our flight suits. Mine made me look like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Raphael, and Kris looked like Michelangelo. The suits are oversized and are designed to help you catch the wind. Alex said that they can “fly” in anything, and he did. But they put on the flight suits when they want a lot of power, catching the wind and letting it throw you.

I watched on the live feed downstairs, and they were getting pretty nuts, flying around like bugs around a zapper light. Alex led us into the chamber, which is about 40 feet high, with blue-padded walls and little aquarium-like windows (where your friends and loved ones can point and laugh at you while you make an ass of yourself), and a “trampoline” floor which is essentially a big steel net. Above it all, attached to the ceiling, was a huge painted sun, which seemed like it would actually burn me if I got too close.

GETTING THE HANG OF IT

I soon realized there was no chance that I would get that close. Alex first had us lay prone on the steel net/floor as the instructor in the booth slowly cranked up the fan. Once it was up to speed, it started to push me off of the floor, with Alex holding on to me so I wouldn’t fly away. As I lifted off, weightlessness began to kick in, and I felt like I was floating in midair. It’s natural for that feeling to be a little disconcerting, and I couldn’t help but throw my arms out to try and catch myself—totally disregarding everything Alex had just taught us.

Alex kept throwing me the “relax” sign, and I really thought I was. But no matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t get it. Kris did a great job; and before I knew it, he and Alex were doing a simulated tandem jump floating about 15 feet above the ground—show-offs! Even that was making me nervous. The fan below us reminded me of a blender. Surprisingly, this thought did NOT help me to relax.

Then, it was my turn again. This time, I had to dive onto the floor and have the fan push me off the cage floor before I ever hit it. It worked! I jumped and was caught by the gust when I was about 6 inches from smacking my face on the cage. Again, Alex kept telling me to relax and straighten my legs. Again, I ignored everything he said in class, shot my legs out, throwing my ass forward, almost taking out Serge!

Finally it was time to sit back and watch Janice and Alex do a little fancy tandem work. Flying over and under each other, and boosting all the way to the top of the tunnel. Floating around like a couple of little cherubs, and, in my mind, coming dangerously close to that fake sun up there.

You spend three minutes flying. It sounds quick, but it’s plenty of time. I was done at this point and was hoping that Alex wouldn’t make me fly anymore. My muscles ached, and I was sore in places I didn’t know I had. But, I had a great time. I would definitely like to go back again, especially now that I’ve figured out what I was doing wrong. Maybe I’ll get a group together and we’ll make a day of it. It is certainly something I think everyone should try at least once. Hell, let’s go do it again right now!