Ron Ross’ father was a flight instructor during World War II. His brother was a pilot. And Ross remembers flying all around Colorado and Nebraska with his father and brother.
Neither of them wanted to jump out of a plane. Ross always kind of did.
So when Darren Sharp, a friend from work, invited Ross to come along on a skydiving trip to mark his daughter’s 18th birthday, Ross agreed.
Ross, who lives in Loveland and works in Greeley, and he and his wife, who died a little more than a year ago, had spent seven years as missionaries in Africa. He wasn’t afraid of a little adventure.
“I decided it’s time to try,” said Ross, 73.
He woke up with butterflies in his stomach the morning of the jump.
The group made their tandem jumps with Rocky Mountain/Colorado Skydive Club based at Easton Valley View Airport in LaSalle. The club opened April 1, after moving from Boulder County.
“It’s a great add-on for Weld County,” Sharp said.
Tom Morrow, who runs the new operation, said he started jumping out of planes for fun after he got out of the military. “I’d been doing it so long, I thought I’d turn it into a job.”
In a tandem jump, divers are attached to an employee who is charged with opening the parachute and sticking the landing. In a solo jump, divers jump alone.
Pilots take divers up to 14,000 feet above sea level. After jumping, divers free fall, eventually hitting terminal velocity, which is 120 miles per hour. They fall for about 40 seconds. Then the parachute opens.
Morrow knows the sport isn’t for everyone. It can be scary and a little dangerous.
“It’s quite a thing to do,” Ross said.
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