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| 9/11/2008 5:52:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | |
| | Everest itinerary builds up to jump above world’s highest mountain | An itinerary for Dolores resident Harold Watkins' skydiving adventure at Mount Everest, as listed by Incredible Adventures, follows:
• Day one - Arrive at Kathmandu International airport and transfer to Hotel Tibet. Early afternoon briefing and meeting.
• Day two - Full and detailed briefings on trekking at high altitude, demonstration and practice with O2 system, issue of special extreme cold custom built jump suit and protective cold equipment, briefing and familiarization on the high altitude rig, briefing on the drop zone (DZ) and its management.
• Day three through nine - Early morning fly to Lukla airstrip at 9,100 feet to commence acclimatization trek of six days. Visit the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazaar, Tengboche monastery and other village's as well as the DZ during this period. Accommodation is in lodges throughout.
• Day 10 - Return to DZ. Full briefings. Exploration of DZ area.
• Day 11 -Familiarization jumping takes place. Jumpmaster cameramen are on board.
• Day 12 - Everest skydive in front of Mount Everest from 29,500 feet. Jumpmaster/cameramen follow each group of skydivers or tandems.
• Day 13 - Backup day for jumping.
• Day 14 - Transfer by helicopter to Lukla airstrip, fly Kathmandu. Everest skydive party where drinks are free all night; also backup day for jumping.
• Day 15 - Afternoon return flights or onward journey.
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Dolores sky diver will open chute over Mt. Everest
Kristen Plank
Journal Staff Writer
Get ready, get set, jump. From nearly 30,000 feet.
Longtime Dolores resident Harold Watkins, 60, and a handful of others will attempt the first skydiving over Mount Everest this October.
The jump is planned from approximately 500 feet above Everest's 29,035-foot summit. Divers will free-fall from a high-altitude aircraft, past the world's highest peak, and land on the highest landing zone on Earth.
Regarding whether the jump makes her nervous, Nanc Watkins, Harold's wife, laughed and said, "Ask me when he gets back." She noted the jump is nerve-wracking for her.
Harold Watkins was not available for comment Thursday afternoon, but Nanc briefly detailed his trip.
"He will be leaving next Friday (Sept. 19) for Kathmandu, then hiking to the base camp of Mount Everest," she said.
From there, the divers will go into a high-altitude aircraft and jump. The risks involved in the jump are heavy and, according to Harold's brother and owner of IOS Media & Marketing, Wayne Watkins, there is a small window for the jump.
"There are jet streams that go right over Mount Everest at 200 miles an hour, so there is just a few days where the jet stream is high or low enough to provide the opportunity to jump out," he said.
Incredible Adventures, which organizes this and other physically intensive excursions, has been preparing for the drop for two years to get the timing right, Wayne Watkins said.
Staff comprises elite international skydivers and mountaineers, and there is a lot of testing the divers and adventurists have to go through, Wayne said.
"They are at a high altitude with no oxygen" he said. "That is a combination of two really dangerous situations."
Jumping suits are made specifically for this type of jump, and divers will wear oxygen masks, he said.
Harold Watkins, managing partner in the Aspey, Watkins & Diesel law firm in Flagstaff, Ariz., signed up for the jump last October and has been preparing since then with law partner Louis Diesel.
Nanc Watkins said Harold will take "something from home" to go with him: an Osprey backpack. Osprey, headquartered in Cortez, creates high performance gear for hikers, backpackers and anyone who enjoys pushing the outdoor envelope.
Pushing the limits is not new to Watkins. Last year, he and Diesel flew with Russian pilots in a Russian MIG 25 to the very edge of the Earth's atmosphere.
"He's into anything that scares me," Nanc Watkins said.
The Everest flight will be filmed for documentary by Leo Dickinson, a world renowned filmmaking adventurist who has made more than 50 films of his own, helped with many others and has won awards in mountain and adventure film festivals worldwide.
The jump is planned for the first week in October.
On the Net: Incredible Adventures, www.incredible-adventures.com.
Reach Kristen Plank at kristenp@cortezjournal.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Article comment by:
Ariel
Oh man, that sounds like an incredible experience! I didn't know that skydivers were called divers. Tripped me up at first. Will this be on video? A helmetcam would be pretty sweet.
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