Skydiving Everest with Tom Noonan

Experiences You Should Have

Everything You Need to Know about Skydiving Everest (Podcast Show Notes) I interviewed an old friend from my skydiving days, Tom Noonan about skydiving Everest. We knew each other from our time in Lake Wales and Skydive Deland. He works for UPT, and I used to work for UPT when I lived in Florida. Tom Noonan has over 3,500 skydives and has been skydiving Everest since 2008. He also along with Wendy Smith hold the world record for the highest parachute landing at 17,192 feet. If you have questions about Skydive Everest or want to Skydive Everest, Tom can help make that dream come true. Listen above to the interview with Tom or listen to Experiences You Should Have where you listen to podcasts to hear the full interview and the experience of skydiving Everest! What is the Most Adventurous Thing You can Do in Life? Skydiving Everest is definitely one of the most extreme things you could do. Skydiving in a remote and scenic location, and place that skydiving experience in the remote Himalaya, while integrating HALO, makes skydiving Everest the ultimate experience. Photo by Wendy Smith What is a HALO Jump? A HALO jump is High Altitude Low Opening skydive. Low opening means you have taken a long delay and open at a normal opening altitude or lower. Many times HALO jumps are used in military skydiving, however, there are many licensed skydivers who aren't military who do HALO jumps and you can skydive Everest with a tandem instructor and partake in a HALO jump. Why Go Skydiving at Mt. Everest? You will leave Nepal a changed person. There is something about Nepal. The universe makes more sense there than anywhere else in the world. It’s impossible to describe the experience that people have, but it is life changing. The power of that part of the world, being immersed in that environment is like nothing else in the world. Tom has always said that he has left part of his soul in the Himalaya and everytime he returns, he feels like he is coming home. How do you get to Mount Everest to go Skydiving? Getting to Everest is a long trip. From the US it’s a 21-hour flight (quicker flights). Once you arrive in Katmandu, it’s like NYC. It’s busy, bustling, there’s people, activity everywhere. The following day they take a flight to Lukla, which is 9,000 feet above sea level and is the world’s most dangerous airport. You can only land one direction, no matter what the winds are doing. The pilots there are extraordinarily talented. It’s the equivalent of landing on an aircraft carrier without landing on an aircraft carrier. Once in Lukla, you are at the entryway to the Himalaya. They then start a trek for 2 days. They walk 8-12 miles in those 2 days and ascend from 9,000 feet to 11,000 feet, then they spend 2 days acclimating to 11,500 feet. For most people, being at 5,000 feet will wind people. The higher you go, the more you need to work on climatizing. Your heart will increase, and their breath will increase, so they take their time with their trek. During the time of acclimating they stay at tea houses, a big house with 30 rooms or so with a common kitchen and common area. They feed you and is a nice place to rest. Is there a city or town in the Himalayas? There is a little town called, Namche (population 1,600), and it actually has a coffee shop, bars, pizza, and more. Cafe 8848 is a great place to rest and work on climatizing. In Namche, they have pizzas, restaurants and some of highest bar tabs are had up there. Tom doesn’t consume any alcohol up there because one beer has the effect of 2-3 beers. It’s easier to get dehydrated, so Tom recommends using a level of caution when drinking at high altitudes. Where is the Airport to Skydive Next to Everest? 700 feet above Namche is a 1200 foot dirt runway, the Syangboche airport, one of the highest airports in the world. This is the setup for the dropzone where you can skydive Everest!