Diving In
Skydiving is a daring extreme sport that has risen in popularity over the years. Due to improved equipment, higher safety standards and new skydiving facilities opening, this sport has a new ease of access to the public. There are 40,000 people who skydive on a professional basis annually, however only 13 percent are women. Skydiving has become a male dominated sport. Despite facing adversity in this field, ladies are stepping up and finding their footing in this extreme world.
History of Women in Skydiving
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2020 1483
The Invention of the Parachute
In order for the sport of skydiving to begin, a vital component needed to be created. In 1482, Leonardo Da Vinci sketched a conical parachute design after he became interested in flight. He theorized that with this sketch, and the creation of a parachute, people could begin jumping from any height without being injured.
1797
The First Parachutist
André-Jacques Garnerin, a french balloonist and inventor was the first person to design and test the idea of jumping from a high altitude with the use of a parachute. Garnerin attached the parachute to a hydrogen balloon and reached an altitude of 3,200 feet, where he deployed the parachute from the balloon. This prototype was not perfect as Garnerin oscillated wildly in his descent, but he landed safely and unhurt half a mile from the balloon’s takeoff site.
1799
The First Female Parachutist
Jeanne-Genevieve Garnerin, wife of Andre Garnarin, was the first woman to descend under a parachute. She jumped from a 900 meter altitude and landed safely, enjoying a smooth ride down. Jeanne continued to tour with her husband in France and all over Europe, completing many parachute jumps.
1815
Skydiving Runs in the Family
Elisa Garnerin, niece of Jeanne-Genevieve and Andre Garnarin, began flying balloons at the age of 15 and soon took up the new family tradition of jumping out of hot air balloon’s attached to a parachute. She completed 39 professional parachute descents between 1815 and 1836.
1913
First Airplane Freefall
Georgia Ann Thompson, known as Tiny Thompson, became the first woman to parachute from a plane over Los Angeles and actually freefall. Georgia was 15 when she first saw Charles Broadwick’s famous parachute show and felt so inspired she insisted on joining his troupe. She soon earned the nickname “Tiny Broadwick” because of her small size, weighing only 85 pounds. She was soon approached by famed pilot, Glen Martin, who wanted her for his airplane shows. In addition to airplane shows she began demonstrating the use of parachutes to the U.S. Army. During one of her demonstrations as she was descending, the static line always used in the past became entangled with her, leading to Georgia needing to cut the line. She deployed her chute manually becoming the first person to perform a freefall jump.
1914
Safety to Parachutists
Kathe Paulus was a German exhibition parachute jumper and another woman who had a great impact on skydiving as we know it today. Together with her husband, Lattermann, she created a parachute prototype to make their balloon flights safer. This was one of the first inventions of a collapsible parachute, the parachute was able to be folded and packed into a bag neatly. After their first attempt using this new device, tragically Latterman died, however Paulus made it to the ground safely. After this occurrence, she continued to improve the invention and made good money from sales during WWI. By August 1914, Kathe Paulus had made about 70 exhibition descents in her safety device.
1942
The First Nylon Parachute Used
Traditionally parachutes were made of silk. Adeline Gray, was a parachute rigger and tester for Pioneer Aerospace Corporation. This company made parachutes for the military but needed to switch from the traditional silk to nylon because of ties being cut between the U.S. and their silk manufacturer in Japan. As production of nylon parachutes began, Pioneer Aerospace needed someone to actually test the new chute, and Adeline volunteered. At the time she was 24, had 32 jumped with a parachute 32 times, and taught parachuting. Her jump was successful and led to a brief bout of fame, appearing in newspapers, comics and a Camel cigarette ad.
1946
The National Parachute Jumpers-Riggers Inc. Established
In 1946, Joe Crane, a parachutist incorporated The National Parachute Jumpers-Riggers. It had 9 members on the board of directors and a total of 1,000 other members throughout its first 10 years. Eventually this corporation would become the United States Parachute Association.
1951
First World Parachuting Championship
In 1951, the first world parachuting championship was held in Bled, Yugoslavia. During this competition both women and men were involved. They were judged strictly on the criteria of accuracy, to see who could land closest to a target over the course of a few rounds. Monique Laroche from France was the first women’s world champion.
1955
The First Steerable Parachute Created
In 1955, a new flat, circular parachute became the most commonly used device. Unlike parachutes used in this past, this new chute was able to be maneuvered and steered.
1972
The Museum of Sport Parachuting Established
In 1972, The Museum of Sport Parachuting and Air Safety was established as a not-for-profit corporation. The initial board had four members; Paul Tag, M.L. Bertram, William H. Ottley and Jack Bergman.
1986
The First 100-Way Freefall Formation Created
In 1986, the first 100-way freefall broke a world record and was the largest formation of skydivers created to date. This formation included men and women of varying backgrounds and ages.
2005
151-Way Women Freefall
In 2005, 151 female skydivers broke the world’s record for the largest formation made my only women. The purpose of this jump was to bring awareness and raise money towards breast cancer through the organization Jump for a Cause, which was established in 1997.
2010
Skydiving Hall of Fame
In 2010, 11 people were inducted into the Skydiving Hall of Fame. Out of this group of inductees, only two were women. Georgia “Tiny” Broadwick, one of the first females to begin participating in this sport regularly and Cheryl Stearns, one of the most successful competitive skydivers in the world.
2012
Jump From the Stratosphere
While this jump was not made by a women it is still revolutionary and worth mentioning. In 2012, Felix Baumgartner an Austrian skydiver took a helium balloon up into the stratosphere and then jumped back down to earth, descending 39,000 meters, making this the highest jump ever completed.
2013
Largest Head Down FreeFly
In 2013, a new world record for the the largest female head-down free fall was made in Arizona. For over a a minute and a half, sixty-three women held their position in this formation falling to Earth . The women ranged in age between 20 and 52 years old and at the maximum reached descending speeds of over 165 miles per hour as they were falling upside down.
2014
Largest Women Formation
In 2014, another world record was set by creating the largest women only skydiving formation with 181 women from 31 different countries. During this jump in Perris, California over $900,000 was raised for the fight against breast cancer and the Jump for Cause organization.
2017
First Chinese Woman to Fly Over the Himalayas
In 2017, Yu Yin a woman from Changchun, China and an avid skydiver became the first woman of Chinese descent to fly in a wing suit over the Himalayas. In addition to this daring achievement, Yin is also the first Chinese person to establish a parachuting school in the United States.
2018
Largest Linked Group of Female Skydivers
In 2018, sixty-five women braved negative 13 degree temperatures above Arizona to break the world record for the largest amount of female skydivers linked in vertical formation. 65 women linked arms and flew headfirst towards the ground. The training process for this jump took just under a week and was full of women from all around the world. This jump required multiple airplanes to transport all the women up at one time.
2020
Skydiving Museum
A museum dedicated solely to skydiving and preserving the history of this sport will be built in 2020 in Orlando, Florida. The museum has been fundraising for a few years in order to accomplish the building of this special space dedicated to this extreme sport.
Women in Skydiving
Since the beginning of this sports’ existence, women have been participants, however they still represent the minority group. This can all be tied back to confidence levels, according to Laura Golly, an avid skydiver and employee at LG Marketing, a marketing service for skydiving drop zones.
“Women tend to lack confidence, they are often told by male instructors starting off that skydiving will be hard as a woman. Once a woman has a negative experience during a jump, future progression is often stalled,” Golly said.
“I know women who have been passed over for jobs because of sexism, women who have dealt with sexual harassment by male jumpers or drop zone staff and women who have been told ridiculous things like girls can’t fly parachutes. There is definitely a pervasive stereotype that women are less capable at parachute or piloting than men,” Courtney Lee said, manager of Women’s Skydiving Leadership Network and a professional skydiver and coach.
According to several female skydivers, they feel as though they constantly have to prove themselves, despite years of experience and rank.
“It is a battle moving forward no matter where you stand. There is a lot of self doubt and judgment from others along the way,” Golly said.
Due to this gender dynamic, numerous women’s organizations have been established to empower females in skydiving.
Women’s Skydiving Leadership Network is an organization of over 2,000 women that come from all over the world and work together to act as role models, mentors, and strive to increase the number of women in this sport. Efforts are put towards providing women with opportunities for training, networking and fellowship as well as giving out scholarships, hosting events and organizing traveling mentors to meet with incoming female skydivers.
“We’re helping women earn their instructional ratings so they can work in the sport,” Lee said. “Only four percent of tandem instructors are women, so we’re working on changing that! Every woman who takes one of our ratings courses will get a scholarship to help defray the costs. With all these efforts combined, we hope that we can both attract more women to the sport,” Lee said.
Sister’s in Skydiving is the United States Parachute Association’s female mentorship program that pairs students or novice female jumpers with experienced women skydivers at their local drop zones to provide moral support, encouragement and guidance. This program allows for less intimidation to be felt and a strong role model to be established.
“This organization has created such a nice camaraderie among us female skydivers. It is more about forming friendships than competing with one another which is great,” Golly said.
Female Skydiving Instructors Network was established to support skydiving women on the pursuit of receiving instructional ratings. It began as a site offering specific courses tailored for women, and has now become a whole network for women instructors and skydivers, whether they are first time jumpers or experienced ones.
Jen Sharp, co-creator of Female Skydiving Instructors Network, as well as a former drop zone owner and avid skydiver said the sport “has evolved more into a network for the public to find female tandem instructors now. I have requests all the time from women who for religious or other reasons cannot skydive with a male instructor. It also is a repository for some inspiring articles.”
This network has really allowed for change to take place within the world of skydiving.
“I used this platform to first just tell my own story, and how even being small, I was able to be a tandem instructor,” Sharp said. “That inspired others to get their ratings, and then I began to tell their stories as well. I have tons of techniques that allow me to do the same job as, say a male instructor, but just a different way. There was just no conversation about it before.”
While it is virtually impossible at the moment to find an equal balance between male and females in this sport, given the great percentage difference in participation, Sharp encourages women to work together.
“One of the female gender’s best assets is the ability, actually almost the need to collaborate, cooperate, network, socialize, inspire each other. So, that is mostly what I’m about. Not excluding men, but just finding ways let women’s natural tendencies and different ways of accomplishing the same goals have a place in our sport,” said Sharp.
Psychology Behind Skydiving
According to the United States Parachute Association the act of skydiving falls into the category of an extreme sport, which can be simply definedas the descent of a person to the surface from an aircraft inflight when he/she intends to use a parachute.
“There’s nothing in the world that makes me feel like jumping does. Skydiving is the most present-focused thing that I do; in other words, I never think about anything except the skydive I’m doing while I’m on a jump. There’s something truly beautiful and refreshing about being 100% focused on the present moment, instead of worrying about the past of the future,” Lee said.
Often for women, participating in these sports can be a form of empowerment and ability to tear down the societal standards separating men and women in equality.
“The actual physical part of skydiving is pretty non-discriminatory when it comes to gender, not like some other sports can be,” Sharp said.
There are apparent risks in skydiving, however they are not as extreme as some may think. Between 2000 to 2016, skydiving had a 1 death per every 100,000 jumps ratio, while annually, 1 in 15,000 died mountain hiking, 1 in 10,000 have died canoeing and 1 in 1,000 have died motorbike racing according to Teton Gravity Research.
Despite these statistics, skydiving is inherently dangerous as you are jumping out of a moving plane back to earth, which defies natural tendencies. There are accidents that can happen in the air with malfunctioning gear, a change in weather pattern, mid air collisions and landing problems.
“There is always going to be some sort of fear in this sport, as there are dangers that come along with it. If you are smart, and thinking clearly when you make your jumps, injury isn’t too much of a concern though,” Golly said.
It is still important to look at why people participate. Bruce Ogilvie, sports psychologist, said some people jump out of planes to escape the realities of daily life.
“Motivation to take risks or do an extreme sport can be as simple as needing to get away, to carve your own path. Risk takers push their physical, emotional, and intellectual limits to escape the tensionless state associated with everyday life,” Ogilvie said.
Among those participating in extreme sports, there is a great consensus that many let fear hold them in place, however for those who participate in these daring sports, they work their fear to their own advantage.
“It is a bottomless opportunity to discover who I am, over and over again. You wouldn’t think something so simple could invoke an endless stream of inspiration, but it does,” Sharp said.
There is still a great discrepancy however between male and female confidence when it comes to participating in these extreme worlds. When surveyed about their personal confidence in ability after skydiving 50 times, 30 percent of men felt they were fairly secure in their ability whereas only 13 percent of women felt confident according to Blue Skies Magazine. Even after 1,000 jumps, 30 percent of women stated they would never be confident in their own personal ability to skydive while only three percent of men felt this way.
Business Perspective
Pursuing skydiving professionally is an expensive undertaking. Simply to begin jumping on your own without supervision, an A license is needed. This requires one to complete a minimum of 25 jumps, coinciding with requirements put forward by the United States Parachute Association. This can be quite a learning curve as there are 10 levels within the requirements, which must be passed to move forward. All of these require close work with a professional skydiver, and as noted early do not come cheap. To receive an A license you are looking at paying about $2500 to $2700 depending on what part of the country you are in.
The A license is simply the bare minimum. To actually be an instructor and receive all ratings, a D license must be acquired, which means completing a minimum of 500 jumps.
It should also be noted that with skydiving comes the cost of gear which can range from $5,000 to $10,000 depending on whether it is new or used.
“Skydiving is NOT cheap, especially when you’re starting out and have to pay for instruction, coaching, gear, etc. The biggest hurdle when entering this sport is definitely finances,” Lee said.
Skydiving competitions are held across the world annually. Ranging from fun local competitions at individual drop zones to the United States Parachute Association Nationals, each competition is full of different categories and opportunities to win varying cash prizes and awards, ranging from $100 all the way up to $10,000 depending on the event.
Through these competitions, contestants are judged through different segments such as accuracy landing, artistic events, canopy formation, canopy piloting, formation skydiving, and test events. Depending on which event is being completed, different skills are required to win, but generally judging has to do with accuracy, control, and being able to complete tasks previously outlined within a specific time frame. Contestants must be able to follow judges’ rules as closely as possible and make little deviations from planned courses in order to successfully place and win in a competition.
It is possible to make a decent living in this sport. Skydiving instructors make from $18,000 to $30,000 a year but can make additional money through sponsorships. Due to the vast increase in social media, skydivers can post videos of themselves and receive sponsorships from companies such as Redbull, Monster, Telecom and various skydive gear manufacturers such as Aerodyne, Wicked Wingsuits and DeepSeed. Within these sponsorships the athletes are either paid for posting videos of themselves wearing patches with the companies name, or simply wearing gear from the company. Many of these sponsorships are also simply on a gifting basis, meaning they are giving out free gear and equipment.
“Working in the industry is not always glamorous or lucrative, but it’s always challenging, interesting, and fun and to me that’s what matters. I couldn’t be happier to be on this career path and I can’t wait to see what the future holds,” Golly said.
Despite difficulties women have dealt with in this sport, they have managed to pursue on and become successful within this niche market.
“To me, adversity and challenges help refine my skills, make me even better. You can grasp a knife by the blade, or the handle, your choice. I actually like being an underdog, being under estimated. It allows me to use my own way of doing something to really wow the naysayers,” Sharp said.
Created By: Peyton Lochead
USC Annenberg 2019