Tandem Jump in Idaho

Idaho hands skydivers a lot of scenery to fall through. The Sawtooths throw up serrated peaks in the center of the state; the Snake River Plain rolls out flat and wide across the south; and up north, lakes and forest cover the ground in dark green. Drop zones scattered across all of it lean on those views (high desert near Boise, timber and water in the Panhandle), and the landscape does real work on every jump.

New jumpers start with a tandem, clipped to an instructor who handles the flying while you take in freefall and the country below. There's no solo pressure and no long course, just the jump. Most drop zones run late spring into early fall, tracking Idaho's kindest weather, which keeps a first jump about as steady and predictable as this sport gets.