Klaus Leo Michael Gachter from United States is no stranger to Nepal. He has been to Nepal several times and had visited Khumbu thirty years for the rebuilding of the Tengboche Monastery. According to him he was amazed to see the changes in Khumbu since his last visit.

Klaus, who is in his 70s, jumped tandem from a height of 21,000 feet & 27,000 feet during the  skydiving (Everest Skydive 2010) event held  at Shyangboche drop zone. He is one of the oldest Everest Skydive member to skydive from this height. Explore Himalaya salutes this adventurous soul. A few minutes before his departure, we got to meet and talk to him at Radisson Hotel. He seemed delighted with his skydiving experience and plans to come back next year.

Klaus Leo Michael Gachter

Excerpts from the interview:

EH:How do you feel after skydiving in the Everest region?

Klaus: I feel great and it was an awesome experience. I really hope I will do it again next year.

EH: Is this your first visit to Nepal?
I have been to Nepal six or seven times. But I have not been trekking for the last thirty years ,so it was quite different in Khumbu. I visited Khumbu thirty years ago when I went to Tengboche to initiate the rebuilding of the monastery and Khumbu has totally changed .Then it was all tents, now its all lodges and it is much more comfortable.But trekking is much hader now as you are thirty years older…

EH: What are your views about skydiving in Nepal?
Klaus: I think you can’t do this anywhere else. I think its nowhere as challenging and that’s why I have done it and I enjoyed it tremendously and I wanna do it again.The Himalayas are absolutely amazing. When you view Mount Everest from the top of the viewpoint there, it takes your breathe away!
Skydiving- it takes a certain type of people to do it. I have skydived 40 years ago, but only about a hundred jumps and so in the meantime I totally stopped till this event . But another thing is, I have enjoyed it so much that I will take new lessons in the States when I get back. I plan to come back to Nepal again.

EH: We believe you are involved in charity work.Can you tell us more about this?
Klaus: I am already involved in charity with three organizations in Nepal for the last 20 years, actually since 1981. Nick (Leventis) has just given me an idea during this trip, to maybe do the next jump also as a fund raising event. I don’t know yet how I can work this out but I think it will be an opportunity to take.

Earn your Skydiving License in Thailand!

Earn your skydiving license in Thailand with ThaiSky Adventures. You have a choice of training methods to obtain a Skydiving License. One method is the Traditional AFF (accelerated freefall) program where your first skydive is with your own equipment and the second one combines Tandem skydiving with the AFF program. Both are designed to make you a safe and self-sufficient skydiver. These methods follow the guidelines recommended in the USPA (United States Parachute Association) Integrated Student Program (ISP).

The Integrated Student Program is used to achieve this goal by advancing you through eight categories of proficiency (A-H) to qualify you for a USPA “A” License. Advancement is based upon accomplishment of the set goals, called Targeted Learning Objectives (TLOs). Your jumps are tailored based on your own abilities and completion of these TLOs.

Drop Zone
The DZ is Located at Sriracha (Ao Udom) and is exactly 19 Km from Pattaya just off the main Highway – Bangkok and Chon Buri (Route 3/Sukhumvit) to Pattaya.

AIRCRAFT
The jumps will be made from a Pilatus Turbo Porter (with the larger PT6A-27 Engine) piloted by highly experienced jump pilots. The aircraft can carry 10 jumpers to 13,000 feet (Standard Exit Altitude).

For booking details contact: enquiry@explorehimlaya.com

This morning five members from the Explore Himalaya skydive team made four solos and one tandem jump from a height of 25,000 feet at Shyangboche in the Everest region.

In the first batch Tom Noonan (USA), Ian Bishop (Australia) and Jay Kishan (India) made solo jumps at 10:30 AM (local time). In the second batch, world record holder and chief co-ordinator of the team, Wendy Smith (New Zealand) made a solo jump, while Ganesh Pandey (Nepal ) made a tandem jump with tandem master Tom Noonan (USA) at 12:30 PM (local time).

The jumps were made from Tara Air’s Pilatus Porter aircraft, piloted by Jack Sparrow (UK) and Praful Baidya (Nepal). Jack Sparrow has performed more then 4,000 lifts (flights for skydiving) in Europe. He is preparing to launch the first skydiving club in Asia, ThaiSky Adventures.

Explore Himalaya is the first agency in Nepal to commercially organize the Everest Skydive . In 2008 Explore Himalaya organized the first ever Everest Skydiving event in partnership with a UK based adventure company High & Wild.