The Difference Between Skydiving and Indoor Skydiving

Though the two sports have twisted their roots inextricably together over the past few years, indoor and outdoor skydiving are definitely different beasts–though each informs the other in profound ways.

Do the two activities differ? Yes, they do–in very important ways. The surface differences between indoor and outdoor skydiving are obvious, right? Indoors, you don’t need a plane; you don’t need a parachute; you don’t need altitude indicators; you don’t need a place to land.

That said: If you’re interested in going beyond the superficial evidence and delving a little deeper, it gets more interesting. As it turns out, the question isn’t really “what are the differences between skydiving and indoor skydiving.” The question is: “What does indoor skydiving feel like?”

1. Indoor Skydiving Feels like a Warm Welcome

Indoor skydiving offers a lower-stakes, but still exciting introduction to the sport of skydiving. If you’re stoked at the idea of freefall but feel like you need to take some preparatory steps before you wiggle into an actual parachute, you’ll find that the wind tunnel is a very useful tool. Here, an experienced instructor can help you learn how to manipulate the wind to make yourself stable, confident and comfortable in the sky. (Hot tip: Once you’re up there, you’ll likely find that you’re light-years beyond the first-jump students who haven’t spent some prep time in the tunnel.)

2. Indoor Skydiving Feels like the Freedom to Try Something Totally New

It’s very possible that you don’t want to be a skydiver at all–that your work, family obligations, health, or temperament just aren’t a good fit for a one-way plane ride. If that’s you, you’re in luck! Indoor skydiving allows you to experience the exuberant joy of bodyflight without ever stepping into a plane. (Bonus: Make no mistake; it’s just as thrilling.)

3. Indoor Skydiving Feels Like Art

This may seem strange in the context of a discussion about athletic sport, but indoor skydiving is very much an art form. In a wind tunnel, you can create something that nobody’s ever seen before.

Intrigued? Check out Russian tunnel hero Leo Volkov’s performance, which had him whipping around thin air like a levitating Baryshnikov…or the Finnish ladybird Inka Titto, who infuses her incredibly creative tunnel routines with the passion of a lifelong obsession with dance. These guys started just like you–standing outside a tunnel, looking in–and they’ve basically used the wind tunnel as a rocketship.

4. Indoor Skydiving Feels Like the Way Forward

At this juncture, it’s inarguable that tunnel flying vastly improves flying skills, as the changes that the wind tunnel has made to modern skydiving so eloquently illustrate.

Curious?

There’s only one way to find out what indoor skydiving really feels like–check out our first time flyer packages and book your flight today!