Skydiving is a process! It’s nothing like anything I’ve ever experienced before although I will admit that it’s time-consuming. Most people who go skydiving find themselves spending a half day at the facility to do their jump. But how long does it take for the actual skydive from 10,000 feet?
From exiting the plane to landing on the ground, it takes between 4 minutes and 40 seconds, to 5 minutes and 40 seconds to skydive from 10,000 feet. The time it takes will depend on the skydivers’ weight and the weather conditions for that day.
Many skydiving components must be perfect to ensure the jump goes safely and as smoothly as possible. Below, I’ll discuss the timing of a few of those components so that you have a better understanding of how long skydiving from 10,000 feet takes and why.
How Fast Do You Free Fall Skydiving?
After you jump out of the perfectly good airplane (It’s okay, I felt crazy too!), you will hit 120 mph within 3 to 5 seconds; this is your terminal velocity.
Even though I’ve been ziplining, bungee jumping, parasailing, and more, I believe skydiving isn’t nearly as scary. Even though you’re falling at 120 miles per hour, you feel more like you are floating. Skydiving doesn’t have that stomach-drop feeling, so don’t let this deter you from going!
How Much Time Passes from Exiting the Plane to Opening Your Parachute?
The time from when you exit the plane to when you open your parachute highly depends on your exit altitude, weather conditions, and body positioning.
If we do some math here we know our terminal velocity is 120 MPH, which equals 176 feet per second. It takes a few seconds to reach our maximum speed, but after that, we can calculate the fall at 176 feet per second. These are approximate numbers as things are never exact with time.
Calculating the numbers below is kind of simple, I take the exit altitude and subtract our opening parachute height. This equals the total feet we free-fall. Our first thousand feet is about 10 seconds long. Now we have our remaining free fall at terminal velocity of 176 feet per second. I add 10 seconds to our remaining free fall at terminal velocity time and we get our approximate free fall time. Yes, hard to explain but you will see the numbers below where we open a parachute at 4000-5000 feet.
Below is a table of standard freefall times:
| Exit Altitude (ft.) | Approximate Freefall Time (seconds) |
| 9,000 ft. | 27.05 – 32.72 seconds |
| 10,000 ft. | 32.72 – 38.41 seconds |
| 14,000 ft. | 55.45 – 61.14 seconds |
| 18,000 ft. | 78.18 – 83.86 seconds |
After Opening the Parachute How Long Until You Reach the Ground?
After the parachute is open, your descent will be much slower than your freefall. While falling at a rate of about 1,000 feet per minute, this will take about 5 to 7 minutes before you reach the ground.
Read our related post How Do Skydivers Know When to Open Their Parachute? here.
Does the Wind Impact Your Skydiving Speed?
Wind can impact your skydiving speed and ability to land safely in the drop zone. Therefore, sessions are often canceled on windy days.
Windy weather increases the potential for accidents, turbulence, and getting trapped in an air current. A skydiver in an air current will find their fall to be accelerated. Skydivers already hit the ground at about 12 mph to 17mph; anything faster than that risks severe injury and death.
How Long Does It Take to Skydive Tandem at 10000 Feet?
It takes about 4 minutes and 40 seconds to 5 minutes and 40 seconds from the time you jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet to the moment you hit the ground.
The freefall from 10,000 feet lasts around 40 seconds. When the parachute is deployed, this adds on about 4 to 5 minutes, depending on the weight of the jumper(s) and weather conditions.
How Long Is a Full Day of Skydiving from 10,000 Feet?
While the dive only lasts a handful of minutes, the process can take around 4 to 5 hours. Below, I’ll give you a bit of a breakdown of what this entails.
1. Registration And Check-In: 15 – 20 Minutes
Most skydiving facilities will ask you to show up about 15 to 20 minutes before your scheduled jump so they can process the necessary paperwork. This is the best time to purchase any add-ons for your jump, including photos or a video package.
2. Required Safety Course: 1 Hour
This is the most important part of skydiving. The safety course is where you will learn about all the equipment used and body positioning for different stages of the dive. They will also go over how to jump from the aircraft.
This course will take up to about an hour. However, it might take less than that. It all depends on how quickly your jump group gets checked in.
3. Gear: 10 to 15 Minutes
Putting on the jumpsuit, harness, oxygen (if you’re jumping at 18,000 ft), goggles, and any other gadgets you may need will take around 10 to 15 minutes.
The extra few minutes will ensure you’re adequately fastened to your partner. After all, they’re the ones with the parachute!
4. Boarding & Ascent: 20 to 25 minutes
Boarding the plane with your group should take less than 5 to 10 minutes. Of course, the larger the group, the longer it will take.
The actual flight to altitude will take around 15 minutes. Use this time to sit back and enjoy the ride! So, this phase of the dive will take about 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Freefall: 40 Seconds
The freefall from 10,000 feet will last around 40 seconds. It seems a little short-lived when you read the timing in an article; however, it feels like forever!
6. Parachute Cruise Time: 5 to 7 Minutes
Once your instructor deploys the parachute, this will slow you down immensely. This is the perfect time to look around! This is a view you can only get while falling from a parachute. It will take about 5 to 7 minutes to land.
7. Taking Off The Gear: 5 minutes or less
Taking off the gear is much easier than putting it on and will likely take less than 5 minutes! You can slip out of the harness without worrying about how it’s folded or wrapped. This won’t take nearly as long.
All the times I went skydiving, this usually happened at the drop zone before our ride or walk back to the facility.
8. Wrapping Up: 20 Minutes to 60 Minutes
Some facilities have their drop zones in the backyard, and some are several miles away. The walk or ride back to the facility can take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, depending.
If you’ve purchased a video or photo package, these are usually available about 20 to 40 minutes after landing.
Final Thoughts
The whole process of skydiving is just that; a process. Many things are overlooked by interested individuals, such as the safety course, gearing up, the plane ride to altitude, the de-gearing, and more.
A 10,000 foot jump will take about 4 to 5 hours, but a higher jump may take a little longer. Always plan to be there longer, so you’re not thrown off by the amount of time it takes!
When Heather is not participating in extreme sports you can find her working the events across the country, or writing about these amazing adrenaline rushes. She loves to go skydiving, snowboarding, parasailing, hang gliding, dirt boarding, off-roading and hiking.