You can actually fly 120 mph through the sky, and miles above the ground. At Skydive Zion you can do rolls, turns, even pull your own ripcord on your first skydive! Southern Utah now offers the spectacular experience of skydiving, along with an aerial views of the canyons of Zion National Park!

The sensation of flying through the air is unique and exhilarating, and modern equipment and training make it possible for anyone to enjoy this great experience. Today's skydivers find soft standup landings are an easy accomplishment with rectangular parachutes, and you enjoy an incredible flight through the sky!

At Skydive Zion the student receives TOTAL attention from the instructors and staff. There are no long delays waiting for experienced skydivers, and you are not herded in groups like cattle onto a crowded airplane. Our airplane flies when YOU are ready. Come on out and skydive with us!

Tandem jumping has helped make skydiving available to the mainstream, because people 18 or older, 225 pounds or less, and in reasonably good physical condition can make a tandem skydive.

Training and ground preparation is only 30 minutes to an hour because you can be trained during the jump itself; much like you learn to drive a car - with an instructor. After the training is complete, you and the instructor will climb in the airplane and enjoy a spectacular flight overlooking Zion National Park and Southern Utah.

Twenty minutes later, securely harnessed to a professionally trained tandem instructor, you will freefall from 14,000 feet above sea level! During the freefall there is no longer any weight on you, and you can't tell the instructor is behind you, so you get the full effect of making a freefall skydive. At Skydive Zion you can do rolls, turns, even pull your own ripcord on your first skydive! After a 45 second freefall, you or your instructor will open the parachute at 5,000 feet, then you help fly the parachute through a five to ten minute flight to a soft landing on the airport.

Your first skydive/parachute jump is a memorable and spectacular introduction to this adventure sport. Everyone experiences a sensory rush/overload when they make their first jump, and it takes training and experience to adjust to this environment. On subsequent skydives we teach you to take control of this experience and do the things that you want to do in the sky! We will have you make a second tandem (level two) skydive before going onto your solo freefall training skydives.

Skydiving Equipment
A skydiver's equipment is made up of three main parachute system components and generally a reserve automatic activation device. One main and one reserve parachute are packed into a specialized backpack with a chest strap and leg straps cinched to keep the jumper securely fastened.

Skydiving equipment has advanced considerably over the last several years. Round parachutes are seldom seen these days and have been replaced by modern, rectangular "ram-air" canopies that have better directional control and offer softer landings. Reserve parachutes are typically worn on the back above the main parachute, as opposed to the older front-mount assembly, and parachute fabrics today are more durable. Parachute canopies are usually made of zero-porosity nylon fabric that lasts for for thousands of jumps.

Most experienced skydivers use a throw-out pilot chute system for deploying their main parachute. A small, round parachute, called a pilot chute, is packed in an external pouch. To initiate deployment, the skydiver extracts the pilot chute from the pouch and throws it into the surrounding air stream.

The pilot chute is attached to the rest of the parachute by a length of fabric webbing or tape, called a bridle. Midway along the bridle is a pin holding the main parachute container closed. When the pilot chute inflates in the air stream, it pulls the pin, thus opening the main parachute container. The pilot chute and bridle then extract an internal deployment bag containing the main parachute.

The fabric portion of the parachute, or canopy, is folded or stuffed into the bag with the lines stowed outside in elastic bands. As the pilot chute and bridle pull the deployment bag out and away from the back pack, the lines release one stow at a time until fully stretched. With the release of the lines from the outside of the bag, the bag is now open, allowing the main parachute to inflate.

Ram-air canopies are made of a series of inflatable tubes or "cells," connected side-by-side along their length. Each cell is designed to form the cross section of an airfoil, so when the parachute inflates, it forms a wing-shaped canopy, ready for flight.

The front of each cell is open to the air, and the back is sewn closed. Once inflated, the ram-air canopy is a semi-rigid, rectangular plane, similar to an airplane wing. It is attached to the jumper in a nose-down attitude to keep it inflated and flying forward.

The jumper steers and lands the canopy using two contol lines attached along the rear of the wing near each end. When both toggles are depressed, the wing slows, causing the jumper to swing foward, momentarily pitching the flight angle of the wing upward, in the same way an airplane flares for landing.

A Self-Regulated Sport
Rules established by the Federal Aviation Administration address skydiving aircraft and crewmembers, and the FAA oversees parachute manufacturing standards, parachute technicians (FAA riggers), and the packing of reserve parachutes. Otherwise, skydiving regulates itself. Through USPA, skydivers voluntarily establish and follow the Basic Safety Requirements, which address skydiving practices, training and ratings.

For more information on Skydiving please visit Skydive Zion