Outer Banks sky diving business takes off

MANTEO

Sven Jseppi thrust his pelvis toward four attentive students, admonishing them to get this part right. Awkwardly, each mirrored the instructor's stance.

In the air, Jseppi told them, a person is like a badminton birdie. Your hips are the ball. Push them into the wind, he said.

Moments later, four skydiving novices were flopping on the floor, trying to simulate what it's like to soar - correctly - back to Earth.

Jseppi nodded approvingly, then delivered one more instruction. During free fall, tandem jumpers can communicate through taps on the shoulders and hips, he said.

"Can that be a gentle tap?" Jennifer White, 29, asked through stilted laughter. "Because we're really sunburned."

Within the hour, White - with Jseppi strapped to her back - jumped out of a plane from 9,500 feet above ground. The New Cumberland, Pa., woman fell at about 120 mph toward Roanoke Island for 30 seconds before Jseppi released the parachute. They floated for seven minutes, then landed, softly, on their butts at the Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo.

White, who was vacationing with family in Carova for the week, was smiling as she walked toward a group of relieved relatives. She'd do it again, she said, then settled in to watch her husband, Jason White, fall from the clouds.

A version of that scene has played out dozens of times since the husband-and-wife team of Jseppi, 29, and Heather McLay, 38, opened Skydive OBX in April.

The new business offers thrill-seekers an experience they can't get anywhere else on the Outer Banks.

Jseppi, a licensed skydiver who's jumped more than 4,900 times, said skydiving never gets old.

Most customers can expect to pay about $250. All jumps are in tandem with a professional, so customers need not have any prior experience. Jumpers must be 18 years old.

After they sign a waiver, hopeful skydivers watch a short video that reminds them first of the danger - "there is no perfect parachute," according to the video's narrator - and then of the fun.

During a brief training, Jseppi teaches some basic technique - then reassures everyone that it's his job, not theirs, to land safely. Jumpers can be free-falling within an hour of walking through the door.

In less than four months of business, Skydive OBX has had more than 200 people jump.

"It's just proved that people love to have fun on vacation," Jseppi said.

Erin James, (252) 441-1711, erin.james@pilotonline.com