Skydiving is about FLYING, not falling... we are "exiting" a plane (usually at 14,000ft), "flying" our body in the sky for about a minute down to about 3,000ft, then "deploying" our parachutes and "flying" them around, then "landing" them on the ground.

Females make for terrific skydivers! There is nothing like the challenge and reward of jumping out of planes to bring out the best in girls. It doesn't take many jumps for ladies to show that they can fly their body and their parachute well, that they are bright and spirited, have inner strength and courage, enjoy the fun and social aspects of the sport.

There is no stereotypical female skydiver in this sport - there's all types of personalities, different shapes and sizes, ages, different backgrounds, some are still in school or doing Uni, others are professionals, CEOs etc... some are mothers, even grandmothers!

The only limitations to learning to skydive are what you have in your own head... other than that there is a minimum age of 16 (with parental consent) and a weight limit of 90kgs. Skydiving is a very evenly matched sport now, even though females make up only 25% of the licensed skydivers in Australia. Males and females are equal in the air - there is no discrimination, advantages or disadvantages in the sky.

Twenty years ago there were about 100 licensed female skydivers in Australia. At last count (just before the 2005 Skysisters Convention) there were just over 400.

Historically, the bulky size and heavy weight of skydiving equipment made it too cumbersome and hard for females to get into and progress through the sport. But the advancements in equipment over the years have made for small, lightweight, comfortable, beautiful sets of gear (and can be custom made to fit perfectly and come in fabulous colours!)

Never has there been a greater time for ladies to jump:

• the equipment is great and some student training drop zones even have a small set of student gear specifically for females
• the planes are bigger and faster which make jumping a lot easier and more comfortable plus they fly us to 14,000ft to give us heaps of freefall time
• there are experienced female cameraflyers, coaches and instructors to learn from
• specialised events like Skysisters and the skills camps cater for females
• national and world championships now have female events
• there are other females to jump and socialise with
• guys on most drop zones are generally very supportive

Female students respond very well to being trained by female instructors, but there are very few female skydiving instructors in Australia. We're trying to change that though as everybody is keen to see more females in the air!

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Tandem Skydives for Females
Females can go tandem skydiving at any one of the 60+ drop zones throughout Australia. The price of a tandem skydive varies with each drop zone, the height that you jump from and if you choose to have video or photos. The minimum age is 14.

There are hundreds of male Tandem Instructors around Australia, but only 3 active female Tandem Instructors in Australia:

• Theresa Malin in Victoria
• Isobel Wheeler in North Queensland
• Angela Hiesler on the Sunshine Coast

If you would like to jump with one of the female tandem masters, email them directly or come to the Skysisters Symposium in April, 2007 and do a Tandem Jump with them for only $250! Click here for more info.

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Freefall Skydiving Courses for Females
The Accelerated Freefall Course (AFF) is the standard course around Australia. It is a 9 stage program teaching all the basics over 9 jumps. The first licence to skydive is an "A" Licence which is issued by the Australian Parachute Federation. A minimum of 15 jumps is required to achieve your "A" Licence as well as completing a parachute packing course and landing accurately 10 times without assistance. Achieving an "A" Licence usually takes most people around 20 jumps.

Approximately 30 drop zones around Australia run Freefall Skydiving Courses on a regular basis - some are full time drop zones that operate 7 days a week, most are weekend operations.

Ideally, the best way to complete a course is to do it all in one go ie. stay at the drop zone for the week and complete the 9 course stages in about 5 days (depending on the weather). Skydiving is a head-trip - the longer you leave it between jumps the harder it is to deal with it. The closer together you do the jumps, the easier each jump is. This way it doesn't take long to get over the fear and actually love jumping from perfectly good planes! The best advice is to take a week or two off work and sign up for a course package.

Ramblers Drop Zone at Toogoolawah in South Queensland operates 7 days a week, has a couple of female instructors and offers a variety of Course Packages:

1. Introduction 3-jump Package
2. Completion 10-jump Package
3. Accreditation 15-jump Package
4. Addiction 20-jump Package

Ideally, the best way to go about learning to skydive is to do the Addiction Package in the week leading up to a Skills Camp, then stay on for the Camp and get right into all that the camp has to offer. Your learning curve couldn't be any steeper or the fun factor any higher!

Click here for more information on Freefall Course Packages.
Click here for a comparison chart of the Course Packages.
Click here to book in for a Course Package at Ramblers.
Click here to find out more info about the once-in-a-lifetime Symposium course package deal available for 3 girls only.

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