Standing at the open door and getting ready to jump out of an airplane at 13,000 feet above the ground, San Jose Skydiving Center owner Andrew Simmons can feel the body of his tandem jumper tense up.
Simmons, a 35-year-old skydiver with more than 5,000 jumps over eight years on his resume, loves to share his extreme-sport passion with just about anybody willing to take the leap of faith with him or one of his employees.
“It’s loud. The wind is hitting you. You can’t communicate with your instructor,” said Simmons of the first few seconds after jumping out of the aircraft. “I can feel the tension in people’s bodies when I push them out of the plane. It’s a rigid 5-10 seconds and then you can feel them take their first breath and feel them relax into it.”
Then, the parachute opens up and together the skydivers “cruise like a bird” soaring through the sky and enjoy their serene surroundings with views to Santa Cruz, Monterey and Moss Landing to the North Bay and even the Sierra Nevada Mountains on a clear day.
“It’s pretty intense. Words just don’t do it justice. It’s like describing a sunset; until you see it you don’t really know,” said the well-traveled Wichita, Kansas native who skydived around the globe before settling into his new business out of South County Airport in San Martin nine months ago.
On his best day, Simmons participates and leads 56 expert sport jumps and 20 tandem jumps, totaling 96 bodies falling out of the sky, he said. The adventurer and entrepreneur has two airplanes, six full-time employees and five part-time workers that offer up the thrill of a lifetime seven days a week at up to 13,000 feet.
“It’s great. I jump out of an airplane to put bread on the table,” Simmons said. “It’s a labor of passion. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. It’s the hardest and most rewarding job I’ve ever done.”
For Simmons, it started like any other 20-something year old thrill seeker who got the bug to jump out of a plane.
“Within six months of my first skydive, I sold my house and all my cars and set out to the West Coast in 2009,” said Simmons, who completed 46 jumps in Kansas. “I packed everything in the back of my Nissan pickup, including my motorcycle and a tent.”
Simmons spent three months in Arizona, but “couldn’t take the heat,” before venturing to Southern California, where he worked and built up his experience for three years in Lake Elsinore. He earned his Accelerated Freefall (AFF) rating, giving him a license to teach skydiving, and also got his tandem instructor rating that “allows you to attach people to you and skydive,” Simmons explained. Instructors must have a minimum of three years in the sport with 500 skydives before being able to get certified.
After learning the ropes of the skydiving business working at a seasonal operation in New York, Simmons got the idea that maybe he could start his own operation. He first spent six months backpacking in Southeast Asia and then another year in Hawaii before returning to Southern California. Simmons, who had visited the Bay Area in his many travels, then started to research locations where he could start his new business.
“I wanted to come to a place that was willing to work with me. (South County Airport) has a basic idea of how they wanted the skydiving operation to work. They even had a skydiving application online,” said Simmons on how he landed in San Martin. He submitted business proposals to about six other airports.
“They all said, ‘Nope, we don’t want skydiving here.’ But Santa Clara said how can we make this work together,” Simmons continued. “They were more welcoming than other places.”
Simmons explained that Santa Clara County had one of the strictest—and most expensive—insurance policy requirements he had come across, but it was worth it.
“I was worried that the aviation community wasn’t gonna like skydiving here, but that wasn’t the case at all,” Simmons said. “The aviation community received us surprisingly well.”
Director of County Airports Eric Peterson echoed Simmons’ sentiments of having a “positive relationship” with one of San Martin’s newest aeronautical business owners.
“There are a couple of little things that we’ve chatted about and he’s always receptive if there’s some minor change for efficiency or safety,” said Peterson, who has seen airport activity increase with the welcoming of skydiving as well as the Gavilan College aviation program on the grounds.
Now off and running since Feb. 9, customers can book reservations online at sanjoseskydivingcenter.com. No experience is necessary—just an appointment. Upon arrival, customers fill out paperwork, watch an instructional video, meet with their instructor, put gear on, more brief instruction and “your instructor takes care of everything,” Simmons said. At San Jose Skydiving Center, all instructors have at least 2,000 jumps with the most seasoned at 11,000.
“You spend about 15 minutes with your instructor and then hop in the airplane and climb up,” Simmons explained.
It takes about 20 minutes to get up to 13,000 feet. After jumping out, there is about a one minute free fall, the parachute opens up and then it’s a four to seven minute descent to the landing zone at South County Airport.
“The instructor takes care of the landing,” Simmons said. “You land on the ground and become the world’s newest skydiver.”
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Where: South County Airport, 13030 Murphy Ave. in San Martin
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When: Seven days a week
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Who: AFF certified skydiver/owner Andrew Simmons and staff
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How: Online at sanjoseskydivingcenter.com or call (408) 759-0801
