Becky Balboa – Skydive Northwest

STORY BY admin 28th June 2017

Have you ever thought about pushing your limits further than you ever have imagined? Then take a look at Becky Higham from Bolton, who can be found most weekends falling from the sky in beautiful Cumbria at SkyDive North West.

Firstly Miss B, WHY?

All I can say is that if you haven’t experienced jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane then you need to, it’s the only way anyone can understand why.

How did you get in to it?

I was going through a period in my life where I really wanted to test myself I have always had a great fear of heights and I remember being sat there watching a skydiving video I simply just looked at how amazing a guy looked free falling and just decided right there and then that I needed to do this. If I can get over this fear of heights then I could do anything. I could only imagine that feeling of freedom and how many few get to experience this. I researched places to jump in the north of England and within about 10 minutes I had booked my place on a course at skydive north west in Cumbria.

Give us the deal on what it costs, best place to learn, what kit you need etc..

There are two different type of course you can do. Your RAPS course in which is a progression system in where you start off on a static line. I originally booked onto this course however the british weather was proving to be hard work when it came to students jumping. The winds where either too strong or the cloud base was too low. I did 4 static lines before making the transition to the AFF course,  booked 10 days in Seville to complete this as I knew I was more guaranteed the weather there. Your AFF course costs around £1400 and then there is the cost of 10 console jumps plus kit hire which will cost you around an extra £300. All the equipment will be provided by the drop zone until you are a qualified sky diver.

What runs through your mind the night before you go jumping?

Initially I couldn’t sleep, I would be lying if I said I was excited about doing this. I laid awake the whole night the evening before wondering why on earth I had signed myself up for this and trying to mentally prepare myself to do the jump. Now I understand all the safety aspects and what skydiving is about I can not wait for good weather days. I am now filled with excitement the night before. The drop zone is a funny place, its somewhere you go and all lifes other worries seem to disappear, you start to live in the moment and that is a beautiful feeling.

Tricks!  What tricks can you do?  How the hell do you learn them and whats the big trick you are working on now?

Well now I am currently learning to Free fly and I am also training to compete in Crw (canopy formation) for the nationals that are later on this year. There are so many different disciplines to skydiving that there is always so much to learn which suits me perfectly.

For more info, check out:  SKYDIVE NORTHWEST

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