Things to know…

I’ve Never Done This

The vast majority of people we see every year at Skydive Ontario have never jumped from a plane. You’re not alone.

There’s no need to study before arriving at our dropzone at the skydiving center, we’ll teach you everything you need to know when you get here. Our highly trained and experienced tandem skydiving instructors will take care of the rest.

After you sign in, you’ll head into our hanger to complete a 5-minute how-to. Here you’ll learn directly from a tandem instructor to understand what will happen, who will do it, and when.

By the end of the lesson, you’ll know how to make the proper body position (Hint: banana!), and the proper landing position (Hint: toes up!).

You’ll then “gear up” and “get in the plane”!

I’m strapped to who?

Who will I be strapped to and how do I know they have be trained properly?

Instructor Training

All of our instructors undergo a week of rigorous grass cutting before we consider them as instructors. If they do a really good job grass cutting they move up to the tandem instructor role. That was 100% a joke. We are very picky about who we hire as tandem instructors. First of all, any skydiver in the world must have a minimum of 500 skydives before they are allowed to take a ‘how to’ tandem course. Every tandem instructor at Skydive Ontario (SDO) has a least 1000 skydives with the average being about 3000-4000. Every tandem instructor at SDO does about 500 tandems per season or more; everyone is very current. Furthermore, when we hire instructors, they must be able to demonstrate an elite level of skill on their resume and then, if hired, in the air. They must also be able to demonstrate an elite level of customer service. If you are looking for something sketchy, you won’t find it here. We’re the best around! Nothing is going to keep us down!

How should I prepare?

EAT

Make sure you eat before you arrive and pack a healthy snack to hold you over if there are any delays. An empty stomach likely won’t help the jump day jitters.

DRINK WATER…NOT BEER

You don’t want to be dehydrated the day of your jump. Not being properly hydrated will also magnify any jitters.

WEIGH YOURSELF

The maximum weight limit is 240 lbs for safety reasons. Make sure you are under the weight limit before your jump day.

BE FLEXIBLE

Nobody likes waiting in line! We value your time. Our team is very efficient. We work very well together and aim to have you jump in a timely manner. Registration, training, gear up, and your actual skydive only take about 60-90 minutes. However, plan on being on site for 3 hours (or longer) to allow for possible weather delays, and other unforeseen hold ups.

What parachute equipment?

What tandem parachute equipment do you use and how often is it inspected?

Equipment

We only use Sigma tandem parachute equipment at Skydive Ontario (SDO). It is generally referred to as the safest and best tandem skydive system currently available. One reason a skydiving center may not use this system and opt for another system is because the Sigma system is very expensive. We put safety well above money at SDO.

Each tandem system is also required to have an automatic activation device (AAD). This altitude sensing device is fitted to the reserve closing loop and will automatically open the reserve parachute at 2040ft if you are still in free fall. Bottom line, the system is designed to make it impossible for you and your instructor not to have a parachute over your head.

Inspections

Tandem parachute systems are constantly being inspected at SDO. Before each pack our parachute packers thoroughly inspect the main parachute and its components. The parachute system and passenger harness is then inspected by your tandem instructor before they put on. It is inspected again by the tandem instructor after the parachute is open. The parachute systems at SDO are constantly being inspected before, during, and after each tandem skydive.

Reserve parachutes are inspected and repacked by a current CSPA Type Rated or FAA certified rigger within the previous 180 days as per CSPA basic safety regulation 2.2.