by Marcella Ortega
Daily Lobo
Jumping out of an airplane is easier than it looks.
"I took a class, then jumped the next day," said Claire Hilleary, graduate student and skydiver.
Hilleary is a member of Skydive New Mexico. The club operates out of the Belen Alexander Municipal Airport and offers weekend courses for skydivers. Hilleary said the airport will not renew Skydive New Mexico's lease, and the club will need to find another hangar to operate from in 2 1/2 years.
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Adam Buckner has been a part of Skydive New Mexico for 16 years.
"We've had this land out here since '88 or '87," he said. "The club has been here quite a while."
Hilleary said Skydive New Mexico has to raise $200,000 before the lease is up to get a new hangar. She said the club wants to form a fundraising group at UNM but has been unsuccessful.
"They (students) work, and they are really busy," she said.
Buckner said the club is student-oriented.
"We are focused toward students maintaining the sport - not just a one-time ride," he said.
UNM student Gabriel Trujillo and his friend, Josh Ellison, took the first class with Skydive New Mexico on Saturday.
"We've talked about doing it since our freshman year," Trujillo said. "We decided to quit talking and just do it."
Trujillo said he is interested in helping Skydive New Mexico raise funds. He and Ellison took a 2 1/2-hour tandem course. A tandem course certifies students to jump out of an aircraft while attached to an instructor.
"I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it," Trujillo said before skydiving. "There is no way I'll jump by myself my first time."
Other courses offered by Skydive New Mexico are six-hour static-line and accelerated-free-fall courses. After completing the static-line course, the student is certified to jump while attached to the aircraft by a static line that activates the parachute immediately after exiting. After completing the accelerated-free-fall course, the student jumps and activates his or her own parachute while receiving any needed assistance from two skydiving instructors.
Lee Norris is the president of Skydive New Mexico and has been a skydiver for seven years.
"You'd have to do it to understand it," he said. "It's an unexplainable addiction."
Norris said 2 1/2 years is a short time to raise funds.
"Fundraising is really hard for skydiving," he said. "There really isn't much you can do."
Skydive New Mexico member James Englund said he is trying to get involved with the club and do more than just skydive. He is not worried about the club losing its hangar.
"Things always have a way of working themselves out," he said.
Skydive New Mexico is accepting donations until the club finds a way to raise funds, Hilleary said.
"I think we are going to achieve our goal," she said. "It's going to take a lot of work and a good dose of faith."
For more information on Skydive New Mexico visit
skydivenm.net.
