Before the New Chapter

Before the New Chapter: The dropzone That Was

Honoring the legacy that helped build Idaho skydiving.

If you’ve spent any time around skydiving in Idaho, you’ve heard the name Skydown. Long before the new energy, long before the big events, courses, and the momentum we’re building today—there was a version of Skydown that shaped this state for more than three decades.

And if you want to understand who we are now, you have to understand what was.

The Early Days: A Dropzone Born in the 90s

Skydown began in the early 90s—back when the sport itself was still transforming. Gear was evolving, training programs were changing, and skydiving was shifting from a renegade hobby into something structured, challenging, and deeply community-driven.

Through all that change, Skydown stood out immediately. It was built by people who didn’t just skydive—they breathed it.

What started as a modest operation in the Treasure Valley grew fast into a skydiving force. A place where Idaho’s boldest, wildest, and most committed jumpers gathered to push themselves and push the sport.

Idaho’s Powerhouse Dropzone

Through the 90s and 2000s, Skydown wasn’t just a dropzone.

It was the dropzone.

• The largest jump operation in Idaho

• The largest jump plane in the state

• The highest yearly jump numbers

• The biggest and most active sport-jumper community

Weekends felt electric.

Loads turning back-to-back. Students chasing licenses. Tandems cheering before their feet even touched the ground. Teams drilling formations. Riggers and packers working nonstop. Canopy fabric cracking in the wind like a flag announcing “Let’s go again.”

If you wanted to jump, train, learn, or find your people—Skydown was where you went.

A Community Built by Legends

But what truly defined Skydown wasn’t the plane or the manifest board—it was the people.

An entire generation of Idaho skydivers earned their wings here. Local legends made thousands of jumps here. Instructors and coaches began careers that would eventually impact dropzones across the country.

Weekends often didn’t feel like “operations”—they felt like micro-boogies. Sunrise gear checks, sunset debriefs, late-night stories that grew more dramatic every year, and a core belief that everyone—new or seasoned—belonged to something bigger than themselves.

This wasn’t a business.

It was a home for the people who built it.

A Dropzone That Shaped Idaho skydiving

By the mid-2000s, Skydown had become synonymous with Idaho skydiving. Its influence reached far beyond Caldwell:

• It produced the most new skydivers in the state

• Developed instructors and coaches who went on to teach nationwide

• Kept the sport alive during years when skydiving wasn’t as accessible

• Built a community that stayed connected long after the last load shut down

A Reputation That Reached Beyond Idaho

Skydown’s influence didn’t stop at state lines. Over the years, the dropzone took celebrities and touring musicians on their first jumps, worked alongside Red Bull athletes like Miles Daisher, and even appeared on national television—including a feature on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Skydown also became known for leading the most demonstration jumps in the region, proudly representing Idaho skydiving at major events. It wasn’t just a local DZ—it was a name people recognized far beyond the Treasure Valley.

The original Skydown left fingerprints on every skydiver who passed through its doors—and on the entire Idaho skydiving landscape.

Honoring What Came Before

When we stepped into this next chapter, we didn’t just take on things of the past.

We took on a legacy—one built by people who poured decades of sweat, passion, sacrifice, and belief into keeping skydiving alive here.

That story deserves to be told.

Because without the original Skydown, there would be no present-day Skydown.

The foundation was built by those who came before us, and we take that seriously. We honor it every time we open the hangar doors, every time a student takes their first step toward the sky, every time a jumper lands with that grin that says, “Let’s go again.”

More Than a Business. More Than a Dropzone.

This place has always been more than just operations.

More than tandems, more than numbers, more than events.

It has always been a continuation of a 30+ year lineage of jumpers who refused to let skydiving fade from Idaho.

The original crew set the stage.

We’re here to write the next chapter—louder, faster, sharper, and with the same fire that built this place in the first place.

Under new ownership, the story isn’t over.

It’s evolving.