After years of teaching and filming, Jase Hughes rediscovers the magic that made him fall in love with flight.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve filmed a tandem student make their first jump, any ego or bravado stripped away the moment they feel the rush of freefall. It never gets old. The look of disbelief and unfiltered happiness in their eyes, sometimes tears, sometimes laughter, sometimes both, is unforgettable. And for those who jump in memory of a loved one or for a cause close to their heart, it’s impossible not to feel their sense of accomplishment.
For them, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For me, it’s been my reality for more than a decade. I’ve logged over 4,000 skydives, spent ten years teaching AFF, and another six filming tandems. Somewhere along the way, though, I realized I was mostly skydiving for work. The fun, carefree part that hooked me all those years ago had quietly slipped into the background.
The Professional Path
Teaching AFF has always grounded me. It’s the part of the job that reminds me that what we do, jumping out of planes and flying through the sky, isn’t normal. It’s extraordinary. Watching a student wrestle with the challenge, overcome their fears, and finally earn their license takes me back to my own first jump and the way my instructors celebrated with me. Passing that standard of instruction on is something I hope I never lose.
And yet, I had slowly become a skydiver who only flew when there was a student or a tandem involved. Nothing about my work felt like a grind; it just left little space for the sheer joy of playing in the sky.
The Shift
The turning point came from watching friends head off on trips abroad and posting videos of their jumps. I caught myself thinking, I want to do that. And then I realized, I can. The only thing stopping me was me.
So I made a conscious choice. I booked a trip to Slovenia in 2022 and signed up for some mountain flying. That trip reignited everything. It reminded me what skydiving had always meant to me, not just as a career, but as a passion. It’s supposed to be fun.
Rediscovering Fun
Five months later, I saw that Momentum were running a Mountain Flying and Flocking camp in Bovec. I applied for a slot and found myself surrounded by flyers whose skills and approach to the sport humbled and inspired me. At first, I felt out of my depth, but instead of being overwhelmed, I found challenge and growth. That camp was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in this sport.
Since then, I’ve chased opportunities I might once have let pass me by. I’ve stretched my abilities, challenged myself in new ways, and built friendships that mean more than the jumps themselves: the evenings spent sharing stories and food, the sense of belonging, the smiles that stay with you long after you’ve landed.
The Bigger Picture
This journey has taught me how easy it is to forget the extraordinary. We get caught up in numbers, competitions, or social media, and we begin to normalize the incredible. Yet for some, skydiving will remain forever out of reach. For others, it will be a single jump, maybe even the best thing they’ll ever do.
As professionals, competitors, or long-time fun jumpers, we owe it to ourselves and to them to keep that perspective alive. The more joy we bring to our own flying, the more it radiates to those we share the sky with, whether they’re friends or first-timers.
Closing
If I could leave fellow skydivers with one message, it would be this: try new things, stay safe, and don’t lose the fun. We are incredibly lucky. Whether it’s your first jump or your four-thousandth, never forget…you’re flying.
