Airplane to Air Balloon, Mountain to Bridge... What's Next?

Over 2 years ago after Chuck and I did our first skydive, Chuck considered taking up skydiving as a hobby. 500 jumps later, it has now become a possible career change in the near future. Drop zones in the valley ask him to coach their students and are eager for him to become a licensed tandem instructor. Just wait because in less than a year from now he'll be able to take you on a ride of a lifetime.

A couple of months ago, Chuck had the opportunity to jump out of an air balloon. It was quite the experience for both him and I. You don't realize until you have a reason to follow an air balloon around that they never know exactly where they are going to end up landing.

After the first load jumped out, we chased down the balloon that ended up landing near the Boise River in a wheat field so that Chuck could catch the next flight up before they took off again. 

 

Up to 3000 feet in the air, Chuck jumped out and landed in a cow pasture. The cows didn't seem to mind but he hurried out before finding out whether or not the farmer felt the same. 

Another form of parachuting called Speedflying allows you to run off large hills or mountains for a speedy trip down or in the right wind conditions soar in the wind lasting 30 minutes in the air at times. Makes for some fantastic views!

A popular hill for Paraglider/Speed flyers in East Boise called the Crow.

Arrowrock above Lucky Peak

Horseshoe Bend  

Garden Valley

BASE JUMPING!

Something else Chuck just wanted to try a few times. Well, you guessed it. A few times turned into over a hundred times now off of the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls.  Typically, after some experience off of the bridge, base jumpers look for other things to jump off of. We'll keep ya posted.