Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Handout
Early last year, Rachel Germon went skydiving for the first time. The recent college graduate strapped herself to an instructor for a tandem freefall jump, which went well enough that she decided to do it again.
Over the first few months of 2022, Rachel, who had recently graduated from Kennesaw State University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, completed five more successful tandem jumps at Skydive Spaceland Atlanta. However, to do it on her own, Rachel would need to enroll in Skydive Spaceland’s “Skydiver Training Program,” and get her solo skydive license.
Rachel showed up for her first lesson and was given a safety briefing and all necessary equipment, including a parachute pack with main and reserve chutes. She paid extra to have the instructor—who would jump alongside her while keeping a firm hold on handgrips built into the left side of Rachel’s harness—record the experience on video.