Geronimo!

Originally called the Malone Parachute Center, the club started out as a corporation in 1971 under Larry Sargeant. Six years later, Sargeant relocated but was still able to be involved in the business until 1981. Some of the regular skydivers took over and began to volunteer and run it as a non-profit club, transferring it into a first-class club/training facility.

Don't let the name fool you, though. The club originated in Malone, but as of last summer, is based in Plattsburgh, at the Clinton County Airport. The Malone Parachute Club is one of only two skydiving facilities in the North Country. The other one is located in Addison, Vermont.

But unlike Vermont Skydiving Adventures, the Malone Parachute Club is a not-for-profit organization. Therefore, none of its members are compensated for their time there. During the week, they all have families, regular jobs and regular lives. Kent Wood, an instructor/jumpmaster with 400 jumps under his belt, sees the club as a way of using a hobby “to give back to the community and get people into the sport for much less,” referring to the Malone Parachute Club’s below-average prices.

The club is open from April to October on weekends

While below-average, skydiving is a pricey activity, no matter what. The Malone Parachute Club puts all of the money they generate from jumpers towards maintenance. “It costs a lot to keep the planes in good shape,” explains Wood, noting that it costs $30 to fuel the plane for just one trip up and down, and an airplane mechanic runs about $70 per hour.

In addition to the money it takes to maintain the facilities and the planes, there is the equipment. One student parachute costs $5,000 and a tandem one costs $10,000. Tandem jumping, or skydiving with an instructor strapped to your back, is the most common introduction to the sport. After a 20 minute briefing, the tandem jumper puts on a jumpsuit and various harnesses and is escorted to the plane to practice exiting it.

Next, the student and jumpmaster get into the small plane for a scenic 25-minute ride, 10,500 feet into the stratosphere. Once the plane gets to approximately 9,000 feet, the jumpmaster secures the various harnesses and buckles and the two prepare to step out onto the wing and jump off as one.

“I was so scared, I couldn’t breathe,” recalls Donna Davidson, a student at Plattsburgh State University who did her first jump last April. Wood agrees, thinking back to his first jump six years ago. “If you’re not scared on your first jump, you’re not sane because it’s not a natural thing to do. The plane’s door opening is the part that scares people the most. That’s when the butterflies in your stomach turn to pterodactyls. But the fear quickly turns into excitement.”

A tandem student preparing to land

Above the ground, 10,500 feet is almost equivalent to two miles. The first mile of the skydiving experience is a 30 second free fall at 120 miles per hour. Halfway down, the jumpmaster deploys the parachute and you “enjoy a beautiful canopy flight, making thrilling turns through the sky, for approximately five minutes, allowing you to enjoy the incredible view,” as it states on the web site.

As thrilling as it may be to jump out of an airplane, many people have preconceived notions of skydiving being unsafe. In actuality, skydiving accidents are extremely rare, with only one jump out of 65,513 being fatal. “It is more likely for someone to die in the car on the way here than to die during a jump,” says Dick Swanson, the unofficial president of the Malone Parachute Club.

While Swanson, who has jumped more than 4,000 times, is technically one of the club’s two co-presidents, Wood assures that “president” is more title than anything else. All club members have equal control and everything is run democratically. Swanson and the other co-president, Barry Wailing, who got introduced to skydiving by a friend with a job as a smoke jumper, jumping out of an airplane to put out forest fires in Idaho and Montana have both been in the Malone Parachute Club for nearly 25 years.

Wailing says the club has “not changed since 1976” and exists to get people as enthusiastic about skydiving as its members for cheaper rates. Many jumpers seem to catch the bug and make plans to jump again. Jon Dolias, a Plattsburgh State student, recently completed his first jump and plans on going again. “It was like every great experience I’ve ever had summed up in six minutes,” Dolias describes. Dick Swanson and the gang would be happy to hear that.

Do you want to jump out of a plane? Let us know!

A tandem jump costs $160. A video of your experience is available for an additional $40. The static line course costs $140, however, if you have already completed a tandem jump during the season, you get a $40 discount. The class starts at 9:30, but it is suggested to get there a half hour early to fill out paperwork. The only catch? You must be 18 years of age or older!

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