Skydive Lake Tahoe
Skydiving into Lake Tahoe is definitely something to check off your jump list. Jumping into the water requires some planning and a reserve pack but well work the effort at least once. The view is to die for filling ones visual perception full of crystal clear blue and green hues against a backdrop of the Sierra Mountains.
If you haven’t invested in real water gear, do it. It’s a great investment and as a jumper you will surely use it more than once. I know I have and for this demo it was definitely something you wanted as part of your gear. The lake is huge and can be very cold, even in summer. A jumper actually perished last year by landing in the lake on a bad spot with winds and drowned via hypothermia.
The day before the jump I actually gave a water training class at The Goat House and we went over all kinds of scenarios where no matter how careful you are one can get into a situation they need to be prepared for. Couldn’t help but think about it with mountain winds gusting to 20+ favorably onshore.
The jump called for mandatory water landing and no flying over crowds at all making it a very easy demo for anyone with decent canopy skills. Once in the air the winds were no as bad as foretasted for sure and direction was easy to spot simply by looking at the water.
James Linsbee of Tahoe Skydiving organized and planned the Demonstration jump for Incline Village and the Veterans Association. This is the third year in a row James has organized the event. This year Michael Roberts provided complementary S&TA for all concerned. The Nazi Safety attitude of Michael provided extra room in the plane for sure. It was quite amazing that after paying $25 for the slot in advance people would show up with no water gear, late and reserves out of date. It was quite comical to watch Micheal deal with each scenario with a laughter in his voice and smile on his face.
I have to admit, I wasn’t truly prepared myself. The date sorta crept up on me and before I knew it there I was in a plane leaving for Tahoe with nothing but a rig, t-shirt, shorts, flip flops and no way home. And as life usually works, it all worked out. I still got to see fireworks, sleep outside and wake up to tall pine trees in the morning.
Skydive Lake Tahoe
As luck would have it I was able to get to the DZ early enough to throw together a helmet with a gopro scrounged from friends lockers. Really didn’t want the bother of a big helmet or other cameras and extras stuff to carry once there. For all I knew I might be hitch hiking back to Lodi. No matter how hard I try I just cannot jump without some sort of camera.
I you are interested in making this leap next year, by all means, make your way to Lodi, like the Parachute Center Fanpage and look for the posting, usually a couple months in advance. Only one otter load, so slots fill up pretty quick.
Check out more pictures on The Harry Parker Fan Page.
