News-Sentinel reporter Layla Bohm falls through the sky, two miles above Lodi. (Photo courtesy of Cory Hall)

Into the blue sky

Lodi Parachute Center offers high-flying fun

If you're in Lodi and are looking for something a bit more exciting than strolling Downtown or tasting wine, how about an extreme shot of adrenaline by jumping out of an airplane?

Chances are that you'll feel a natural "high" that lasts longer than a buzz from wine (but is perfectly safe for driving), and you'll have a great conversation starter about your bird's-eye view of Lodi.

Lodi Parachute Center, just west of Highway 99 at the Jahant Road exit, is open every day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. unless the weather is too harsh, and there's always someone available to take you on a tandem jump.

"A lot of people still have the John Wayne image, that they have to go through the military, but with today's technology and equipment, it's easy for everyone from the 16-year-old to the 85-year-old," owner Bill Dause said.

It's even handicapped-accessible, he said, mentioning that a student with cerebral palsy has jumped six times.

The Lodi jump center has been open since 1981, though Dause has operated his business since 1964. He jokes that he's "been doing it for a couple days now."

Jumpers often travel the world to skydive in different locations, and plenty of them stop in Lodi.

"Other than a few of the smaller countries in Africa, we've had people from every country in the world," Dause said.

The $100 fee includes a short training video, during which you sign a liability waiver. Then you meet your instructor who will jump with you.

If you choose to pay $35 for in-air photos, or $55 for a DVD of the experience, you'll also meet the photographer who documents the whole process. The instructors, who have jumped thousands of times each, help strap you to a harness and walk you to a plane waiting outside the back door of the large hangar that houses the jump center. Soon you're climbing 13,000 feet into the air.

You'll quickly find yourself leaping from a plane, air rushing past you. The free-fall lasts for about a minute, and then the instructor pulls the parachute cord and controls the rest of your descent for about five minutes.