WEYBURN - A squeal of delight was heard as Chelsey Souther descended with her tandem instructor on Saturday at the Weyburn Airport, as she did skydiving for the first time in her life.
"That is so amazing!" she exclaimed once she was on the ground, adding she "definitely" wants to do that again. She noted the instructors walk a person through every part of the jump, and she felt very ready for it.
She was one of many area residents who booked a tandem skydiving experience with Skydive South Sask, who offered three days of tandem jumps in Weyburn.
The skydiving group is normally based out of Moose Jaw, but came back to Weyburn as there was a demand for it from residents who have done it, or wanted to do it for the first time.
The group was based in Weyburn for most of a summer a couple of years ago, when the Moose Jaw airport was unavailable due to upgrades to their runways, and some of their regulars are from or were originally from the Weyburn area.
For Chelsey's first jump, she was paired up with tandem instructor Ridge Tendler, and they jumped from 10,500 feet, while another first-timer, Kelly Cole, did a jump from 7,500 feet with instructor Jamie Coulter.
Kelly said she's kind of an adrenaline junkie and very much enjoyed her first jump. "I think everyone should do it," she said, adding while she was nervous, she said "you just kind of go with it". She noted she would like to be able to do a jump like that again, but in tandem, as she would be too unsure of herself to do a solo jump.
Another first-timer was Kripa Patel, who said she also very much enjoyed the jump.
"I was a bit scared, but it was so exciting. I'll do it again," she said.
The group did some jumps on Friday morning, but shut it down as the winds were too strong in the afternoon, and then they went all day Saturday with "near perfect" conditions.
