Weyburn airport to host Moose Jaw skydiving club in May and June

Skydive South Sask, a volunteer non profit skydive club that operates out of Moose Jaw Municipal airport, is temporarily relocating to the Weyburn Airport for May and June, while the Moose Jaw Municipal Airport undergoes expansion.

The skydiving club offers tandem skydiving on weekends, weather permitting, and will begin to operate from the Weyburn Airport on Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9.

“We have welcomed guests from all over Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, North Dakota, Montana and various other places. We operate on weekends, spring through fall, weather permitting,” said Sheldon Driedger of the skydiving club.

The Moose Jaw Municipal airport is slated for a major airport expansion, which includes lengthening the taxiway, and a complete rebuild of the runway.

Construction is expected to start in June, and due to the pending construction, the airport will be shut down and the club will not be able to operate from that location.

“We have secured operational space to operate and offer tandem skydiving at the Weyburn airport. We intend to operate on the weekends of May and June, starting May 9th, weather permitting,” said Driedger.

He noted that in the late 1990's, Saskatchewan was home to five different skydiving facilities, including the Weyburn Sport Parachute Club. After a couple of years operating in Weyburn, it was relocated to Estevan, and operated there for a few years.

Over time, skydiving has shrunk in Saskatchewan to leave one non-profit club based out of Moose Jaw and one for-profit business based out of Saskatoon.

“Myself, I started my skydiving career in the fall of 1996. I also jumped out of a helicopter and landed at the Weyburn Airport in 2000, as a helicopter company was giving helicopter rides to people in Weyburn, and picking them up in the field behind McDonalds,” explained Driedger.

"We have a website at www.skydivesouthsask.ca and our club phone number is 306-569-5867. Our club email is [email protected]," added Driedger. "The majority of bookings can be done online via our website, but we can do bookings over the phone."

The club members spent Sunday packing up their equipment and Moose Jaw and brought it out to the Weyburn airport to get ready for the coming weekend.

"Weather permitting, we will start our skydiving operations around 9 a.m. or so next Saturday, May 8th and we plan to skydive every Saturday and Sunday, until the end of June," he said.

Once construction is complete at the Moose Jaw airport, the club will transition back to their permanent home in Moose Jaw, where they will continue to skydive every weekend until the snow flies.