{"id":63113,"date":"2026-09-28T22:49:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T22:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=63113"},"modified":"2026-09-28T22:49:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T22:49:52","slug":"first-skydive-at-97","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/first-skydive-at-97\/","title":{"rendered":"First Skydive at 97"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A little fear wasn\u2019t enough to stop James Gordon from doing something he\u2019d never done before. Now he has his sights set on another jump at 100<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At 97, James Gordon wanted to see the world differently and Schlegel Villages was prepared to make it possible. To do it, he climbed into a small airplane, rose more than 10,000 feet above the ground and prepared to leave through an open door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was his first skydive. Some people questioned his decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh no, you don\u2019t want to do that,\u201d they told him. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t try it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James listened, but his mind was made up. He did not want anyone to think he lacked the courage. More importantly, he wanted to prove to himself that he could do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther people do it, and it\u2019s an experience that is pretty unique and something that is surely uplifting in many ways,\u201d he told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was excited, although not entirely without apprehension. The night before the jump, James admitted he was \u201ca bit fearful.\u201d His wife was understandably concerned too, but when the experience was safely behind him, his joy became something they could share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Grim Determination<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By morning, his apprehension had given way to what he described as \u201ca grim determination and a strange contentment\u201d with doing something unusual. When James arrived at the dropzone Skydive Swoop, he sat calmly talking with the people around him while the airplane was refuelling nearby. Very little of their conversation concerned the jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then it was time to board. The airplane was so small that James could not sit upright near the door without his head touching the roof. A harness was secured tightly across his shoulders and around his body. Behind him was his tandem instructor, Alex Torre, who would guide him through every stage of the jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James had expected his fears to intensify once he was on the airplane. Instead, they disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel a thing,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI was as happy as can be. Strange.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the door opened, he saw the tail of the airplane nearby. He moved his legs into position and prepared to leave with Alex. Then they were gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
James Gordon on his first tandem skydive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The world above you<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

James and his tandem instructor exited the plane, and briefly they were upside down, face to the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt looked as if the world had suddenly become a world above you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recalls a feeling that he was just floating, with the earth moving around him. The parachute was deployed and James enjoyed the gentle canopy ride, with turns that felt fun for him. The deployment from freefall to sitting under the canopy is a feeling he believes he will never forget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

James and his tandem instructor landing, albeit with a few insignificant cuts from the landing. Back on the ground, he sat with the people who had helped him and talked about what he had seen. Alex, his tandem instructor, has taken many people skydiving, but James\u2019s age was not the only thing that stayed with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I found most remarkable was his recall after the skydive,\u201d Alex said. \u201cHis words were so eloquent when he was describing his experience, and the fact that I could show a 97-year-old the world in a way which he had never seen before truly inspired me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James explained that looking down from a mountain or another high place could never reproduce what he saw or felt during the jump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
James Gordon , 97, and tandem instructor Alex <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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James Inspires His Long Term Care Home<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Back at The Village of Riverside Glen Long Term Care where he lives, residents and caregivers congratulated him and asked how he could possibly have done it. They regarded his accomplishment as extraordinary. James said, \u201cIt was really out of this world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I asked whether someone else his age should skydive, James offered \u201cSome people like to take a bit of a risk and see things in a different way.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For James, the jump wasn’t about proving a point. It was about making his own decision, accepting the risk and discovering what remained possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready For More<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Would he do it again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he told me, \u201cIf there was a particular reason for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He already has one in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to do it on my 100th birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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