Katie Klein-Murphy, operations manager at New Berlin-based Top Floor Technologies, always vowed she would do something exhilarating for her 30th birthday.
So last summer, she did her first skydive at Skydive Midwest in Sturtevant. She did two more jumps this summer and now plans to pursue her solo diving certification.
“There is nothing like the feeling of falling from 14,500 feet at 145 mph,” Klein-Murphy said. “It goes by quickly, but it’s such a releasing feeling.”
The first few times you skydive, you have to go in tandem with a certified instructor, she said. After that, skydivers can start to take lessons in order to pursue a solo diving certificate.
Klein-Murphy plans to start that process by next summer.
“It’s just breathtaking,” she said. “And for me, it’s exhilarating. I know a lot of people would love to do this and never will. It’s indescribable. You just have to do it.”
When jumping on a clear day from Skydive Midwest you can see the Chicago skyline and the Milwaukee skyline at the same time, Klein-Murphy said.
“It’s an incredible experience,” she said.
During her training for her solo jump certification, Klein-Murphy will begin receiving instruction and then do a number of solo jumps with instructors falling alongside of her.
Once she has completed her training, she will be able to jump solo for a significantly reduced cost, she said.
“For me it’s about the rush and the feeling you have of being completely free,” she said. “Once you’re out of the plane all the stresses melt away from you. For me, it was just an incredible big sense of calm.”
