Freefall is the portion of a skydive between leaving the aircraft and deploying the parachute. A skydiver in a stable belly-to-earth position falls at roughly 120 mph — about 190 km/h — though the figure depends heavily on body position.
Why 120 mph is only a starting point
Falling bodies accelerate until air resistance balances gravity. That balance point is terminal velocity, and it depends on how much surface area you present to the air.
Belly-to-earth, arms and legs out, a typical jumper reaches roughly 120 mph. Head-down in a tight body position, speeds well above 160 mph are routine. A wingsuit works the other way, with the suit's surfaces slowing the descent substantially while converting some of it into forward movement.
How long it lasts
From around 14,000 feet, freefall typically runs 55 to 60 seconds before deployment. From 10,000 feet it is closer to 35 to 40 seconds.
It takes roughly the first 10 to 12 seconds to reach terminal velocity, so a jump from twice the altitude gives noticeably more than twice the useful freefall time — one reason experienced jumpers care which aircraft a drop zone flies.
What it feels like
People commonly expect a falling sensation. In practice, once terminal velocity is reached there is no further acceleration, and the dominant sensation is wind rather than dropping — closer to lying on a very strong column of air, which is precisely what a wind tunnel recreates.
These pages explain what things are so the language makes sense. They are not instruction and cannot substitute for it — skydiving is taught in person by rated instructors at a drop zone, and anything involving equipment handling or emergency procedures belongs there rather than on a web page.