Lovers Leap
The Story Behind Love Is In The Air
What possesses a couple to leap out of a perfectly good plane from 30,000 feet? Quite simply, love. Christiana Kiesel and Jonathan Peters are a great match - they're adventurous and have serious concerns for the environment and the direction the world is heading. So to send a loud and clear message about the dangerous reality of global warming, they became the first couple in the world to complete a HALO Jump.
Christiana and Jonathan set off for the West Tennessee Skydiving Center in Somerville, Tennessee to prepare for their HALO Jump on Sunday, October 29. While a standard skydive is from a 'safe height' of 12,000 feet, HALO Jumping is extremely dangerous. HALO stands for High-Altitude Low-Opening, with skydivers wearing oxygen tanks, jumping from at least 30,000 feet, freefalling for 2 minutes and opening the parachute at a low altitude.
After getting on their jumpsuits, crash helmets, oxygen tanks and parachutes, Christiana and John breathed pure oxygen to remove the nitrogen from their body in order to maintain consciousness during the jump. As they ascended and circled the drop zone, the air temperature dropped to minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit [minus 62 degrees Celsius]. Strapped to professional military skydivers, they leapt from the plane and began their rapid freefall toward earth, reaching 'Terminal Velocity,' a blistering speed of 120 miles per hour [193 kilometres per hour]. At 6,000 feet their chutes deployed, gliding them back to solid ground, in the process becoming only the 23rd and 24th civilians to ever HALO Jump.
'The intensity of the experience was incredibly bonding for us as a couple,' said Christiana. Jonathan, the founder of an environmental company agreed adding, 'Jumping to the earth from such great heights reinforces what a precious jewel we live on and how important it is to protect it.'
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