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Sunday July 25, 1999. Interlaken, Switzerland
Braden: "Brinne, let's go skydiving!"
Brinne: "Okay!!"
Quote from Braden's travel diary:
"Look kids! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Braden & Brinne hurtling down to their unbeknown deaths from the heavens above!
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would jump out of a plane from 10,000 ft over the Swiss Alps. The plane ride to the specified jump-site showcased empyrean snow-capped mts, opal-blue lakes, rambling streams, and clear blue sky that stretched far beyond the horizon. [And according to our jump-master Andre', we were only at 3,000 ft! - 7,000 ft to go!]
Interestingly enough, I wasn't nervous in the plane, but I had been nervous hrs earlier.
Finally, the time to jump had arrived: I dropped out of the plane with Phillipe & I was flying! I can't describe the sensation because the 30 second free fall lacked any sensation whatsoever. The only miscomfort was that it was very tough to breathe. Although my body felt no resistance to the air into which I collided, my nose & throat did indeed feel the gusts of cool air.
But the miscomfort didn't stain the moment. The experience was heavenly - a waking dream.
My body was in the specified banana shape with my neck straining backwards, so my eyes could gaze at the landscape beneath my body. I could see everything: the valleys, the mts, the villages, lakes, streams, rivers, etc. Then at 5000 ft., Phillipe yanked the rip-cord, pausing our fall for a brief moment. Then Phillipe allowed me to direct our flight, so I panned from one view of the mts to another. What a sight to behold! I was floating above one of the most beautiful mt. ranges in the world! And now I know why birds sing!"