Skydiving for Cowards
I went indoor-skydiving with my friend Nadeem last weekend at SkyVenture NH.
It was a seriously mind-blowing experience ... the facility consists of an ominously huge glass-and-concrete structure containing a vertical wind tunnel. On the second floor there's a waiting area that opens into the 'flight chamber' -- which has a mesh net for a floor and about 50 ft to the top of the tunnel.
You can't see the fans below you when you stand on the edge of door to the chamber, but you know they're a good 40ft down.
The wind whips up at 120+MPH, and keeps you floating in the air just like you were in free fall. I could not for the life of me orient myself in any deliberateway -- sometimes I'd go up if I stuck my hands out, crash (slowly) into the wall if I pushed my legs out ... and sometimes I'd not-so-slowly turn around (body-tailspins are... scary). Ideally you make these movements on purpose, but for me that'll have to wait until next time. Here's a photo that makes me look more a bit in control than I felt.
You have a instructor/spotter who can jump in and grab you if you get out of control. In between your sessions, they crank up the wind and he does some showing off - shooting up 50 feet, walking on the tunnel 'roof', shooting back down and abrubtly stopping 1ft or so about the mesh netting ... it's pretty unreal. (See SkyVenture promo video [YouTube])
Recommended.
4:44:01 PM 
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