Sponsored Content by Orange Skies Drop Zone
By Pam Potzer
Skydiving is in my blood. My dad was a static line instructor in the late 80s early 90s, and my mom was a jumpmaster. From a young age I heard about the adrenaline chasing stories my parents embarked on and I always knew someday I’d join them.
When I left for college both my parents actually discouraged me becoming a skydiver, as apparently it is nerve racking seeing your child jump out of the plane and it can be a costly sport. So after putting my flying dreams in the back of my mind and climbing, doing music therapy and other things for a few years, I finally met Jason Baldwin who revamped the skydiving club here at CSU.
The first meeting I sat there listening to Mike Bohn and Leland Procell, owners of Orange Skies drop zone, reminiscing in memories of competing in the world championships, my excitement only grew. Soon after the initial meeting, Kiley Grimmesey and I made our first tandem jump. The smile on my face was cheek to cheek as I had finally fulfilled that childhood dream of jumping out of a plane, but the solo jump was really what I wanted.
After constant encouragement from Jason, I finally booked a class last year in September at Out of the Blue Skydiving in Calhan, Colorado. The club was very supportive and many members joined me by either watching or jumping. The jump itself has a story of its own and if I could give one piece of advice to a beginner in this sport, ALWAYS be ready for a malfunction. Turns out on that first jump, I had a canopy malfunction and reserve ride; my toggle (what allows you to steer and land the canopy) snapped off. After five hours of ground school and going over emergency procedures countless times with my instructor Hannah, I knew I had to cut away my main canopy and use my emergency reserve. Because of my instructor’s, Hannah, constant emphasis on emergency procedures, I was able to safely cut away and deploy my reserve canopy, but the fun wasn’t over yet. I was the last one out of the plane and ended up a fair distance from the airport because I lost sight of our drop zone. I ended up landing in a field and hitchhiking back with two nice ranchers who were wondering why I was in the middle of their neighbor’s field. When I finally met up with everyone else at the drop zone, I was filled with enjoyment and excitement for the my next jump.
From these scary first jumps to the nerves of getting on the plane, skydiving is a great sport. One main reason I love about skydiving is the people I meet. I have made friends through three drop zones here in Colorado. Monte, who is a Master Parachute Rigger and a good friend of mine, can fix anything on a skydiving rig. Tamera, Bradley, and Rhanee helped me learn so much about flying in the Denver wind tunnel. The Orange Skies Ninjas helped me with learning how to pack my parachute correctly and have been supportive throughout my journey. And then of course there’s Jason, without him I’d still be waiting for a better time to start my dream.
For those of you who want to be skydivers, I recommend making friends in the sport, which the CSU Skydiving Club is a great place to start (message us on Facebook). From its barnstorming beginnings to when it became an official sport in 1952 to the technology of today, this sport will forever give us a way to fulfill our dream of flying. Always remember the clothes you buy will get worn and old, the car you fix up will break down, but no one or no thing can take away experiences.
