Not all grandmas are created alike. Some love knitting and others jump out of planes for fun. Kim Knor, 84, from Colorado falls into the latter category. She has a lofty goal of earning her Gold Wings from the US Parachute Association. To accomplish this feat, she must skydive 1,000 times. She is already more than halfway there.
Kim’s first experience skydiving was in 1959 when she was just 20 years old. She gave up the sport for her late husband, who experienced an accident when testing parachutes. Since his death, she is back at it again after 37 years.
"My husband died and the kids were growing up and then the grandkids started coming and [after 37 years] I started jumping again," she explained to People. What a fearless lady she is! She first discovered the sport because of her uncle.
When she was 5 years old, she became aware of skydiving because her uncle trained to jump from planes in World War II. This planted a seed within her. In 1962 she joined the first US Women’s Parachute Team. They would go on to win gold.
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Skydiving is truly a family business for Kim. She is making sure to pass down her love of the extreme sport to her grandkids. She recently took her youngest grandchild, John Norsen, to the Mile-Hi Skydiving Center in Longmont, Colorado. He completed his first jump at the same location his grandma has jumped about 50 times. It’s a full circle moment for the family.
“In our family, [skydiving] is almost a bit of a rite of passage,” another grandson explained. “My sister and my cousins and I always talk about who’s jumping next, who’s jumping again, and who’s making their first jump.”
For Kim, skydiving is life. "This is what I live for," she gushed. "Anytime life gets too difficult or too sad just go make a jump and then everything's good."
She wants other women to at least consider trying the sport. It makes one infectiously happy. “I keep encouraging them to at least go out and try. And if it’s your thing, you might end up getting a job at a drop zone and be around these people all the time,” she mused. “At most drop zones, everybody’s on a high, because they’re so happy to go up and jump.”
