Diving Over Mt. McKinley - by Caroline Dohack (Columbia Tribune, July 5, 2009). “When we did the flight up into the mountains, it’s amazing because you’re taking these little planes between these huge rock faces, and it’s just awesome. That’s really the only word for it,” Wood said.

Thrill-seekers conquer obstacles to skydive over Denali - by Leyla Santiago (KTUU TV, Alaska) with videos of the jump and the preparations.

It was a Bucket List type of thing!

Columbia skydivers are first to jump over Mt. McKinley (Missourian News Online, Saturday, June 27)

Thursday, June 25 - The group of skydivers has successfully completed their historic jump over Denali National Park!

Incredible Adventures sky diving team on hold; diving over the Talkeetna Airport at 12:30-2:30 by Sue Deyoe of KTNA Radio, Talkeetna, Alaska (June 24th, 2009)

Wednesday, June 24 - Jumpers are headed out to do a low level jump over Talkeetna, while they wait for the weather to clear for high altitude jump.

Tuesday, June 23 - In a weather hold. Jumpers have their "go bags" packed and are ready to head for the airport the minute the rain stops and clouds clear.

Monday, June 22 - A mid-morning earthquake added a bit of excitement to the jump briefings. A shift in winds forced canceling jumps for the day. Jumpers ventured out to explore downtown Talkeetna.

Sunday, June 21 - Team conducts reconnaissance flight and lands on a glacier inside Denali National Park. Flew over proposed glide path. Group photos taken (see below).

Saturday, June 20 - Jump team and staff assembles in Talkeetna for the historic jump.

May 21 - Thanks to TDS Enterprises LLC for providing the woodland camouflage coveralls we'll be using for this jump. You can visit their store online at www.quartermastersports.com and find hundreds of great buys on military clothing, sporting goods, and cutlery products.

May 20 - Denali Park Superintendent Paul Anderson sends us another letter. We've now been threatened twice with six months in jail and $5000 in fines if we land within the National Park borders.

May 1 - Kevin heads for Talkeetna to evaluate various flight paths and landing spots for June's history-making skydives. He'll be flying possible routes with Mt McKinley jump pilot Paul Roderick, the owner of Talkeetna Air Taxi. Talkeetna Air Taxi is one of the few companies authorized to perform flightseeing tours within Denali National Park.

April 30 - Jump Leader Kevin Holbrook has been monitoring this website twice a day for over three months now in order to become intimately familiar with the wind patterns around Mt McKinley. Knowing and understanding wind direction, speed and temperature is important to planning a successful jump. Check out the temperature and windchill above Talkeetna, Alaska at 18,000 feet and you'll know why Kevin ordered special thermal jumpsuit.

April 27 - Kevin called in with an equipment update. He and the rest of the HALOJUMPER team spent the weekend testing parachutes and video cameras in preparation for the June Denali jumps. He really is impressed with the GoPro video camera and has ordered a wide-angle version to test. He also really likes the parachutes they tested. The glide ratio was much better than he expected. Glide ratio determines how far jumpers can travel before landing. Kevin has spent the last three months analyzing wind patterns over the mountain and calculating flight paths. He leaves for Alaska next week to meet with the jump plane pilot and fly the jump route.

April 24 - Denali Park Superintendent Paul Anderson denies our latest request for permission to land within Denali National Park. We love his reason. We cannot get a special use permit for any activity that is prohibited, and skydiving is prohibited without a special use permit. Translation: We cannot get a permit because what we want to do is illegal without one.

April 10, 2009: Jump leader Kevin Holbrook continues to search for parachutes capable of carrying jumpers from over McKinley to outside the park. Existing tandem chutes have a 3 to 1 glide ratio, which means they're designed to fly 3 miles for every 1 mile of altitude. To travel the 18 or so miles necessary to avoid stepping on park property, our jump staff will need chutes with at least a 6 to 1 ratio. A 10 to 1 ratio would be even better. So far, the only chutes he's located would have to come from Germany. If you know of a US-based company that has what we need, please let us know! How far is 18 miles? It's like flying across the widest part of the Grand Canyon!

April 9, 2009 - National Park Says No, But We're Jumping Anyway! Reporter Leyla Santiago of KTUU in Alaska spoke to the President of Incredible Adventures about the difficulties of dealing with the National Park Service at Denali. You can read the report here.

April 9, 2009 - Denali Park Superintendent Paul Anderson phones IA President Jane Reifert and makes it very clear that if jumpers land inside the park, he'll issue citations to appear in court in Alaska. He warns jumpers could be arrested, fined $5000 and sentenced to six months in jail.

April 8, 2009 - Several hours after the press release goes out, Incredible Adventures receives an email from Director Masica, informing the company that the appeal has been denied and that an original copy of the denial letter is "in the mail".

April 7, 2009 - First-Ever Skydive Over America's Tallest Mountain: Jumpers Still Need a Place to Land. Incredible Adventures is planning the first-ever skydive over Alaska's Mt McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. The company is hoping the National Parks Service will give jumpers permission to land near the mountain. View the full press release

April 1, 2009 - Jane Reifert emails Region Director Masica and copies Superintendent Anderson. Reminds them Incredible Adventures is still waiting for a ruling on the permit appeal.

March 31, 2009 - Jump leader Kevin Holbrook of HALOJUMPER.com announces that he may have found the perfect wristcams for Denali Skydivers to wear.

March 6, 2009 - Jane Reifert appeals the permit denial to National Park Service Alaska Region Director Sue Masica.

March 4, 2009 - Three possible landing zones are plotted on Google Earth. Two are within Denali National Park. The third, is where jumpers will land if the National Park Service cannot be persuaded to issue a special use permit for jumpers to land inside the park.

February 12, 2009 - Denali Superintendent Paul Anderson denies IA's permit request. He decides IA is trying to start a new park concession and rules skydiving is not an approved concession for the park.

January 27, 2009 - First-Ever Skydive Over Alaska's Mt McKinley Set for June 2009. Incredible announces an opportunity to travel to Alaska to be part of another skydiving first: the first high-altitude jump over Mt McKinley, the tallest peak in North America. Alaska's Mt McKinley is located within Denali National Park and rises 20,320 feet high. View the full press release

January 26, 2009 - IA President Jane Reifert applies for permission to land within Denali National Park. The request is for a permit covering 10 days, in order to allow for the possibility of bad jump weather.