Can You Be Too Old To Skydive?

What do the following things have in common?  Fine wine, gourmet cheese, and life. All three get even better with age! What’s your story?  Did you wait to tackle making a skydive because you weren’t quite ready, but now it’s time to cross that particular adventure item off your bucket list?

Are you worried you waited too long? Don’t. You can’t be too old to skydive.

Health, not age, is the determining factor when it comes to skydiving. If you’re in reasonably good health, you can’t be too old to skydive. Physical requirements to skydive are neither rigorous nor exhaustive. You don’t need to be able to run a marathon. Would-be jumpers just need to have a moderate range of motion and flexibility. Wondering if you fit the bill?

A good test is to sit in a straight-backed chair and lift your legs, attempting to get them both parallel to the ground. This action mimics the body position you may be asked to take when it is time to land the parachute. If you can replicate it, you have the basic strength needed to complete a tandem skydive.

We’ve seen it time and time again: attitude is everything. The adage is true: you are only as old as you feel.

So, how old do you need to be to skydive?

There’s a whole host of things you can do when you reach 18: enlist, vote, buy a lottery ticket, and skydive! While there’s no age maximum to skydive, there is an age minimum.

Depending on state law, the legal age of majority is when a young person is considered to legally be an adult, and thus, capable of assuming legal control of their actions and decisions. Because you are required to fill out a waiver (an exercise of your rights), the potential skydiver must be 18 years of age or older. Currently, acting with the age of majority in mind, the United States Parachute Association (USPA) – which we are a member – mandated that in order to skydive, a jumper must be 18 years of age or older. At certain times, for special cases and individuals associated with organizations like the Make a Wish Foundation, the age minimum can be waived.

Wait, who’s the USPA? Why do they get to decide how old you have to be to skydive?

The USPA is the acronym for the United States Parachute Association. This is an organization dedicated to the promotion of safe skydiving and disseminating industry safety standards put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration. If a dropzone has agreed to be a group member of the United States Parachute Association, they must follow the USPA regulations and basic safety requirements i.e. the rule that individuals must be 18 to complete a skydive.

So what do you say?

We can’t think of a better way to celebrate turning 18, or 80 for that matter, than with a skydive!

Here’s a cool idea: schedule your skydive and bring along your mom and dad, grandmother and grandfather, and make it a multigenerational jumping day!