Parachuting- An Extreme Sport

Parachuting, also known as Sky Diving is a competitive and recreational sport. It is an aviation sport in which the athletes jump out from an airplane or helicopter at a certain altitude. Then they open their parachutes to slow down and return safely to Earth. Basically, the sport of parachuting refers to parachute descent, while free-fall activities are covered by the term skydiving. Andre-Jacques Garnerin, the inventor of the parachute made the first parachute jump.

It is considered as an extreme sport which requires a lot of courage. Although it seems to involve a lot of risk but the accidents happening every year are rare. This sport requires a lot of expertise and training. Skydivers are required to carry two parachutes. The reserve parachute must be periodically inspected and re-packed. Parachuting must not be performed in poor weather conditions such as thunderstorms and high winds. Also, as per the visual flight rules, one must not jump in or through the clouds.

There are various types of sport parachuting events that are organised such as solo and group jumps for touch down accuracy. Apart from being a sport it is also used by modern military forces for deployment of airborne forces and supplies and for special operations. Some of the best places for parachuting/ skydiving around the world are Mount Everest, Nepal; Victoria Falls, South Africa; Denarau Island, Fiji; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Fox Glacier, New Zealand; Interlaken, Switzerland etc.

Content: wikipedia.org

By: Anuja Arora