Winter Skydiving: Here’s What To Wear

Cold outside? Yeah, we know. If that leads you to the question of whether or not you can you go skydiving in winter, you're definitely one of us! The answer is yes, you can -- you just have to be a little more prepared than you would if you were jumping in the sultry summertime. If you know what to wear to go skydiving in colder conditions, not only can you skydive in winter, you can love wintertime skydiving! As long as the weather conditions are safe, skydiving is an all-season sport.

1. Rock your layers

Skydiving in thermals is a great idea when you're going skydiving in winter. Instead of bringing along your puffiest puffy jacket for a winter skydive, bring thermal layers! Several thin, close-fitting layers create insulating pockets of air in between them, and they don't add the amount of bulk that could make a skydive uncomfortable.

Take a pro tip from the experienced wintertime skydivers: Start out with an Under Armor-style "sports thermals" base layer (that selfsame stretchy compressing stuff that cold-weather runners wear, or that snowsports folks use as a base layer). Then add a couple layers of close-fitting fleece, which has the best set of desired properties for this purpose (specifically: warmth, softness, weight-to-warmth ratio and ease of washability). The key here is to make sure they move with the body and they're designed to chase the cold.

2. Cover up those hands

If you want to be comfortable on your wintertime skydive, your hands are going to need some love. Those innocent hands, positioned all the way out at the ends of your arms, are far enough from your heat-generating center to be, well, vulnerable to cold weather. To keep your paws from becoming chapped or painful when they're streming through the sky at terminal velocity, wear great gloves, with liners too! Bring nice thick gloves and liners to the dropzone with you: optimally, the type that secure around your wrists.

3. Come mentally prepared for the cold (or choose a different season to jump in!)

Are you the type of person who really doesn't love cold weather? Boy howdy, do we ever understand. Due to an atmospheric phenomenon called Lapse Rate, it's considerable colder at altitude than it is on the ground.

If you're a total snow bunny and the cold never bothered you anyway, as a certain Disney princess might insist, then -- heck! -- more power to you. If not, you might consider waiting 'till the weather warms up to make your jump. The sky isn't going to go anywhere. And, for that matter, neither are we! We're happy to book your reservation for a day long after snowmelt, and we'll celebrate the sunny season right alongside you.