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Skydivers Make Jump To Zephyrhills During Holidays

Tribune photo by CHRISTINE DELESSIO

Paul Lehner, of Germany, flies in for a landing at Zephyrhills Skydive City on Monday morning. Lehner and friends from Austria and Germany attended Skydive City's annual Christmas Boogie.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 29, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - More than two miles over the flat east Pasco landscape, a twin-turbo Otter airplane disgorges two dozen spores. At least that's what they look like from the ground.

They fall separately, then, a mile from the ground, pop their nylon blooms that open into colorful petals drifting safely, hopefully, to the ground.

It's Christmas Boogie time at Zephyrhills Skydive City, and as usual, the celebration of warm weather, gravity and clean air to fill parachutes is in full swing, with people from around the world coming to jump out of airplanes.

David "T.K." Hayes, general manager of the operation, said his business is being saved by this year-end event.

Seven hundred people representing some 40 countries are here. Over the past 10 days, about 5,000 jumps have been logged, he said.

Three planes take turns loading jumpers all day long. On Sunday, 55 flights took place, Hayes said.

"It's a good turnout," he said, "We're not breaking any records, but we will survive."

The center is host to three events every year, one at Thanksgiving, one at Christmas and one at Easter. Many of the jumpers are friends who meet here and at other drop zones around the world.

In the winter, there are four destinations for jumpers, Hayes said: Spain, California, Arizona and Florida.

"This weekend is about 15 percent of my annual business," he said.

But the colorful, breathtaking sport is in decline. The number of participants is shrinking, Hayes said, and younger jumpers just aren't taking up the chutes.

The average age of a jumper in the United States is 40, he said. The main reason is the cost. "It's an expensive sport," he said.

Most here pay about $22 to board a plane and jump, and many jump a dozen or so times a day.

Hayes said the profile of a jumper, if there is one, isn't that of a risk taker but of an adventure seeker.

There is a "healthy cross-section" of people here, he said, ranging from students who have saved all year to come to Skydive City to lawyers and neurosurgeons.

They travel around the world, meeting and building networks, he said.

"I have friends all over the world," Hayes said. "If someone just dropped me off in any country in Europe, all I would have to do is ask where the nearest drop site is, and I would have friends there."

People call him T.K., he said. "Nobody here even knows my real name." T.K. stands for "Tent Killer" because of a crash he had with a pup tent while skydiving 26 years ago.

"They used to call me Tent Killer," he said. "I didn't much care for that."

Then, there are the accidents. Just a few days ago, a jumper died at Skydive City, the second this year, he said. The first was in January, when a 45-year-old man from Finland fell to his death after losing control of his parachute.

"It's rare to have two fatalities a year," he said, "but it's out of 70,000 jumps, too."

Still, the thrill of jumping out of an airplane carries a strong temptation for some.

In August 2007, a grandmother from Plant City celebrated her 80th birthday with a 13,500-foot leap from an airplane at Skydive City.

"Well, for 20 years I've been telling people I would do this when I got to be 80," Ruth Geer said at the time. "I just never thought I'd live to be this old, and now I've got to keep my word."

Heidi Capuano, 36, is an employment recruiter who lives in Bermuda. She comes to all three big events here. She keeps a permanent trailer and a car parked in the camping area.

"There's no skydiving in Bermuda," she said." It's a very small island."

There is a lot of space here in Zephyrhills, she said. "But the people really make it."

She jumps as many as eight times a day, "depending on how sore I am," and says she never takes unnecessary risks.

"I'm not in it for the thrill. I just want to come down slow and safe," she said. "This is a lot less stressful than driving here in the States."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

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