{"id":25954721,"date":"2016-07-08T08:13:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-08T06:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skydivesofia.com\/2016\/07\/08\/hristo-kilikchiev-life-above-ground\/"},"modified":"2025-01-17T22:31:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T20:31:23","slug":"hristo-kilikchiev-life-above-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skydivesofia.com\/en\/2016\/07\/08\/hristo-kilikchiev-life-above-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Hristo Kilikchiev – life above ground"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Hello! Bulgaria Magazine <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

October 2013<\/p>\n\n

I\u2019m at the airfield near Ihtiman, eagerly waiting to meet one of Bulgaria\u2019s most experienced skydiving instructors. I imagine a man of about 50, calmly emerging from behind an airplane. But as I approach the hangar, something yellow streaks past me\u2014a skydiver in a yellow jumpsuit and parachute lands at a breathtaking speed of about 120 km\/h and waves enthusiastically. This is Hristo Kilikchiev\u201435 years old, brimming with a smile and boundless energy. <\/p>\n\n

9,627 jumps, 107 hours of free fall, 48,135 minutes under an open canopy, over 49,500 parachutes deployed, more than 5,000 tandem jumps, and over 500 trained students\u2014this is Hristo Kilikchiev\u2019s impressive track record, built over 19 years dedicated to skydiving. <\/p>\n\n

It all began in March 1993, when 16-year-old Hristo joined a parachute club for pre-barracks training at the Defense Assistance Organization. He was one of the few who didn\u2019t need to forge his parents’ signatures to take part. Initially enrolled in a non-motorized flying course that required two jumps, Hristo quickly forgot about flying. Parachuting captivated him from the very first jump, and what started as a hobby soon turned into a lifelong profession. <\/p>\n\n

In 2000, he moved to Spain after realizing he couldn’t develop as a world-class skydiver in Bulgaria. “I was lucky by birth. Without knowing Spanish, I found a job in the third week, right after the first interview. ‘Interview’ is a strong word\u2014holding a stopwatch, a Swiss man with long gray hair tied in a ponytail had me roll a parachute. He told me I could start rolling parachutes the next jump day. For the next three weeks, it rained like it hadn’t in Spain for the past 40 years. I\u2019ll never forget those weeks, living on rye bread, a box of margarine, and a piece of dried meat.” <\/p>\n\n

With the taste of ham, a draft beer in a chilled mug, fresh fish, and the magic words that led him to Spain\u2014a free jump with a reward\u2014Hristo recalls his early years on the Iberian Peninsula. ‘There was a lot of work and countless parachutes to roll. My hands ached, and some of my nails bled. I was rolling in a race against time\u2014only about 10 minutes to pack two tandem parachutes before the next group of four or five skydivers appeared from the next flight.’ Despite the challenges, Hristo steadily advanced\u2014first as a skydiver, then as an instructor, and eventually becoming the head of all instructors at *Skydive Madrid*, the largest skydiving company near the Spanish capital. ‘One of the most memorable moments was when I had to double for a soldier and jump into Atl\u00e9tico Madrid’s Vicente Calder\u00f3n stadium for the opening of their football championship. Thousands of people cheered as I kicked the ball to start the match.’ Hristo also fondly remembers filming a Spanish comedy where he had to double for a chubby actor. He jumped with foam padding, a wig, and a painted beard, engaging in a mid-air fight with the other double\u2014his good friend.<\/p>\n\n

After ten years abroad, Hristo returned to Bulgaria in 2010, where he focused on developing skydiving in the village of Banya, Karlovsko, offering the easiest way to experience freedom in the sky\u2014tandem jumps. He introduced new training methods for aspiring parachutists and began inspiring more young people to take up skydiving. Over the years, he jumped with students and colleagues in Turkey, Croatia, Romania, and the Czech Republic. <\/p>\n\n

“The most incredible moment is the silence that comes after the canopy opens. There\u2019s no silence like it. The emotions of a skydive can\u2019t be put into words\u2014you have to experience them yourself. After so many jumps, the feeling is different, of course. But I would pay just to relive the sensation and thrill of those first jumps,” says Hristo. <\/p>\n\n

He spent his last winter in New Zealand, where he made over 900 jumps in a single season. “There, extreme tourism is so well-developed that it feels like being at McDonald’s\u2014everything is quick and streamlined, with no personal connection to the customer. You won’t find skydivers jumping for the pure joy of it. The focus is purely on catering to tourists. In contrast, back home, we still find ourselves explaining what skydiving is and why it’s not as dangerous as it may seem.”<\/p>\n\n

Since March 2012, Hristo Kilikchiev, together with his partner Dragomir Nedkov, has been running his own business, *Skydive Sofia*, at Ihtiman Airfield. “The challenges have been many,” Hristo recalls. “We’ve spoken personally with every client, but the joy of sharing the experience with them is immense. We\u2019re energized by their stories\u2014like 12-year-old Boyan, who waited for the clouds to clear so he could jump on his birthday, a dream he’d had since he was 7; or Yasen, who proposed to his girlfriend with a huge banner, hearing her shout ‘YES’ from 200 meters up; or Diana, who jumped despite her friends and family’s objections and couldn’t stop smiling afterward. Then there\u2019s Martin, who celebrated the birth of his daughter with a jump. What’s fascinating are both those who come for that one life-changing jump, and those who arrive and just can\u2019t leave\u2014they do several tandems and eventually complete the course. I’ve had students who mastered the skills in three jumps and others who took twelve, but all are equally captivated by their desire to experience that emotion over and over again.”<\/p>\n\n

“The adrenaline of a parachute jump, even the memory of the jump itself, is a wonderful stress-relief therapy. Jumping from an airplane is a victory over ourselves and our instinct for self-preservation, and overcoming our fears inevitably changes us. All I need is good weather, comfortable sports shoes, and after one jump, I can change your life forever!” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m at the airfield near Ihtiman to meet one of the most experienced skydiving instructors in Bulgaria. Walking towards the hangar, something yellow flies past me \u2013 a parachutist in a yellow jumpsuit and a yellow parachute lands at a speed of about 120 km\/h. and waves at me. This is Hristo Kilikchiev \u2013 35, with a smile and inexhaustible energy. Have a look at his story<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25954722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[164],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"class_list":["post-25954721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-24","tag-skydivers"],"yoast_head":"\nHristo Kilikchiev - life above ground - Skydive Sofia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/skydivesofia.com\/en\/2016\/07\/08\/hristo-kilikchiev-life-above-ground\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hristo Kilikchiev - life above ground - Skydive Sofia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I'm at the airfield near Ihtiman to meet one of the most experienced skydiving instructors in Bulgaria. Walking towards the hangar, something yellow flies past me \u2013 a parachutist in a yellow jumpsuit and a yellow parachute lands at a speed of about 120 km\/h. and waves at me. This is Hristo Kilikchiev \u2013 35, with a smile and inexhaustible energy. 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