Lost Prairie Boogie welcomes skydivers of all abilities

To say there is a sense of dread for first-time skydivers would be a big understatement.

Missoula resident Brittany Eisenzimer began skydiving four years ago. She recalls her first solo dive well.

"My first was in a Cessna 182 and I'm pretty sure I screamed the whole way down," Eisenzimer said. "When I stepped on the wing strut I had a thought of, 'Am I really going to do this?'"

She made the leap and now she's helping other rookie divers do the same.

Eisenzimer spoke Thursday afternoon at the 54th Skydive Lost Prairie Boogie west of Marion. She was among more than 300 skydivers who registered and jumped through Wednesday.

Eisenzimer recalled her favorite tandem jump.

"There was a lady who didn't want to jump, but she came out with some friends," Eisenzimer said. "She was crying before she got on the plane and still shaking while she was up in the air. I told her I'd be there to congratulate her when she landed.

"While she and the other jumpers were flying to the jump zone, the other jumpers were telling her it would be OK. When she landed she gave me the biggest hug and said, 'Thank you!'"

JACK RUMPLE is one of the two dozen people who work the Boogie. He said 302 jumpers had registered through Wednesday, which put the event on a record pace. The event ends Sunday.

"We could exceed 400 and we can handle up to 700, but it's not about the numbers," Rumple said. "It's about how close-knit this group of people are.

"One of the hardest things for me is when I'm leaving. I feel like I'm leaving my heart here when I get out of the valley."

The Boogie record for divers is 410 in 2007.

Rumple began skydiving in 1992 when he was a student at Purdue University in Indiana.

"I was hooked after my first jump," he said. "It was with the Purdue Sport Parachute Club, then I jumped after joining the Air Force."

Rumple, who has 570 jumps under his belt, said he first jumped at Lost Prairie in 1997 and hasn't missed a year, with the exception of 2020 due to the pandemic.

"I don't jump all that often these days and now I pack and rig chutes for this event," Rumple said. "For most of us, this isn't just a skydiving event, it's a family reunion."

Rumple said divers of all abilities make the leap at the Boogie.

"No matter what kind of diving people do here, we've got staff members who can assist them," Rumple said. "They come from all over the country, and whether they are new to it or doing their 10,000th dive, we welcome them all."

Rumple said he believed the record numbers were due to a reawakening following the pandemic as well as the fact another big event in Chicago is being held on a different weekend.

Ten-year veteran Tim Smith jumps with Rattlesnake Mountain Skydiving in Washington and Skydive Arizona. He served his country in the U.S. Marines and has completed 1,630 jumps. He said learning never stops.

"I loved jumping, the sky and shooting video," Smith said. "You are constantly learning every time you jump."

WHILE THE Boogie is a joyous event, Skydive Lost Prairie has endured tragedy.

On May 12, 2007, Joel Atkinson, David Landeck Jr., Jenny Sengpiel, Kyle Mills and pilot Troy Norling died after a Cessna 182-C plane they were in crashed into the airstrip.

Atkinson and Landeck, both 25 at the time, were preparing for tandem jumps with a young Great Falls couple, Sengpiel and Mills. The couple were going to be married later that summer.

Forty years ago, Joan Carson, 30, died there after both of her parachutes didn't open. The field is named in her memory.

But those tragedies haven't diminished jumpers' desire to seek the adrenaline rush.

"Death is always a part of it, but every time the door opens you get that burst of adrenaline and it's time to go," Eisenzimer said.

Those who have passed are remembered well at Lost Prairie.

A memory garden was built to honor those who perished.

Whitefish resident Gail Linne, Joel Atkinson's mother, has maintained the little garden.

"Joel was one of 60 elite jumpers in Montana when he died," Linne said. "The garden is everyone's. Whatever people want to do, I say, 'Do it.'"

River rocks from the North Fork of the Flathead River were used to create a heart-shaped garden which has flowers, gnomes, an elk antler and other decorations. Rocks are painted with names of those who perished as well as the phrase "Blue Skies."

Linne said when her son died there was money for him to go to college. She gave it to her older son, Wade, for his schooling.

"But he decided to begin a scholarship in Joel's name to support the training of new skydivers," Linne said. "Friday, they toasted Joel during his ceremony."

Linne is a regular at the Skydive Lost Prairie Boogie and stays busy shuttling jumpers from the drop zone to Glacier Park International Airport in her Toyota Tundra pickup.

AT 10 A.M. Saturday, the Skydive Lost Prairie community will remember a giant among their ranks, Fred Sand.

Sand ran the Skydive Lost Prairie drop zone for 42 years and mentored hundreds of skydivers. He died June 14 at age 69.

Many of Sand's family members will attend the event.

"He knew everybody in the sky family personally, and always remembered their full name, where they were from and what their credentials were," Linne recalled in a previous Daily Inter Lake story. "He cared deeply about other people and thought of other people first. He was a mentor to so many."

It will be another moment in the many that have bonded the tight fraternity of skydivers together.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 406-758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.