{"id":16293,"date":"2025-10-03T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/skydiving-the-most-terrifying-but-fun-thing-you-will-ever-do\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:56:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:56:18","slug":"skydiving-the-most-terrifying-but-fun-thing-you-will-ever-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/skydiving-the-most-terrifying-but-fun-thing-you-will-ever-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Skydiving: The most terrifying \u2013 but fun \u2013 thing you will ever do"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango Herald Staff Writer Scout Edmondson, front, and Ryan \u201cGravy\u201d Katchmar skydive from 13,000 feet above the Moab desert. (Courtesy of Skydive Moab)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

MOAB \u2013 It\u2019s cold at 18,000 feet in elevation soaring over the red Utah desert.<\/p>\n

But the cold isn\u2019t what makes me shiver \u2013 it\u2019s the nerves of jumping out of this airplane and hurtling through the air toward the desert below.<\/p>\n

The vibe in the Cessna Supervan cabin is casual. I, along with five other clients with Skydive Moab, are strapped baby front-pack style to a team of enthusiasts who have made the somewhat fringe pastime of skydiving their job.<\/p>\n

The skydivers joke and laugh with one another, seeming unconcerned that they are about to fall 13,000 feet. Their nonchalance is because they are experienced and highly qualified; as I\u2019ve learned through my reporting, skydiving licenses require dozens of jumps and tests to make sure those who do it do it safely.<\/p>\n

Though I knew I would be reporting on the Fort Lewis College Skydiving Club\u2019s first team outing to Moab, I did not think that my life would wind up in the hands of a man called Gravy.<\/p>\n

Gravy\u2019s real name is Ryan Katchmar, a friendly, effortlessly-cool skydiver who moved to Moab from Chicago to skydive, and he assures me that everything will be OK as the plane door slams opens and cold wind rushes in behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s natural,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we go out the door, just grab your harness, lean your head back and push your hips forward. \u2018\u2019ll take care of the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

I signed the waiver and agreed to do this, and I do my share of dangerous things \u2013 skiing, mountain biking and whitewater kayaking \u2013 but now that I\u2019m up here, it just seems insane!<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter, because Gravy scootches us to the door. Everything that evolution encoded into my mammalian nervous system is screaming at me to not go over that edge, but I keep reminding myself that I am in safe hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cReady?\u201d Gravy asks.<\/p>\n

Before I can respond, he tips us out of the plane. The force of accelerating at 32.2 feet per second squared slams my chest, and the wind deafens my screams as we hurtle toward the earth. Soon we reach terminal velocity \u2013 120 mph \u2013 and though we only free fall for 55 seconds, it feels like an eternity.<\/p>\n

Then, Gravy pulls the parachute and we gently slow down as the canopy opens. After the most chaotic 55 seconds of my life, I suddenly find myself suspended far above the ground, gently soaring next to enormous fluffy clouds. It\u2019s peaceful.<\/p>\n

Gravy even lets me steer the parachute, which I gladly accept.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m lucky, because I have been able to spend a lot of time in Moab. I turn us toward Castle Valley and the La Sal Mountains \u2013 a place I have loved since I was a boy. The aspens, cottonwoods and scrub oak have started to settle into their fall colors and the scent of rain rides the breeze. I admire the swells and striations of sagebrush-covered sandstone and gaze at the canyons, cliffs, mesas and stone towers of Moab.<\/p>\n

We drift for a while, then Gravy takes the reins back from me, and pilots us gently to the ground at the Canyonlands Field Airport. Just like that, I\u2019m back on dry land, and I want to go again.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan
Ryan \u201cGravy\u201d Katchmar, left, and Durango Herald reporter Scout Edmondson are safe on the ground. Katchmar and his fellow skydivers undergo rigorous training, testing and qualifications to get their licenses, meaning Edmondson was in safe hands, even while falling 13,000 feet at 120 mph. (Courtesy of Skydive Moab)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

But I have to finish my reporting and get back to Durango. So I effusively thank Gravy, do some more interviews with the club, then hop in my car and drive home.<\/p>\n

I take the long way through Castle Valley to reflect. I\u2019m very grateful that Ben Iverson, with whom I went to FLC, invited me out to Moab and let me eat and camp with the team. It\u2019s awesome to have seen him grow from a student to a leader at the same school, and how the kids in his club look up to him. I\u2019m also thankful to have gotten know the students in the club over the weekend.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also pretty cool The Durango Herald <\/em>let me jump out of a plane for a story. So to my editor and human resources, thank you.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t help but think about the people who make skydiving their lives. They\u2019re a motley bunch, with tattoos and crazy haircuts and the kind smiles that only people who spend their lives in the sky seem to have. To me, they seem to love life in a rare way, not because their heads are (literally) in the clouds, but because they get to see the big picture of things more often than most people. Life\u2019s troubles seem so small from way up there.<\/p>\n

Though it was scary at first, I now see why people gravitate toward this sport \u2013 one literally gets to fly.<\/p>\n

sedmondson@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

reporter jumps with Fort Lewis College team members<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[132,28,1948],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-fort-lewis-college","tag-headlines","tag-skydiving"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16293"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20121,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16293\/revisions\/20121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16293"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}