It’s not cold enough; it’s not high enough: Chilton thrill seekers enjoy skydiving, jumping into frigid water PDF Print E-mail
Written by Mark Ignatowski, Editor   
Wednesday, 03 March 2010 16:00
Jumping out of a plane or into frigid lake water is not for everyone.
But, “It’s not cold enough. It’s not high enough” could be the motto for Amy Schmitting, Paula "Mort" Mortimer and Tom Bittner.

The three adventurous friends have skydived together and now they have “Polar Plunged” together.

Mort had wanted to skydive ever since her family flew to Disneyland when she was in the sixth grade.

“When I looked out and saw the ‘puff clouds' I knew that someday I wanted to jump through them,” Mort said.

In 1994, Mort finally convinced one of her friends, Pam Lemke, to skydive with her. Since then, Mort has jumped five more times and is planning another jump with her friends Schmitting and Bittner and several other people sometime in April 2010.

Tom did his first jump in 2004 and has since become a certified skydiver. While Tom jumps solo, the remainder of the group members participate in tandem jumps. During a tandem jump, the student is harnessed in front of a certified instructor. The parachute is attached to the instructor’s back and the student is attached to the instructor’s front. He owns his own parachute and has enjoyed 140 skydives. He is a member of Sky Knights Sport Parachute Club in East Troy, the drop-zone where the group will be jumping again.

Amy has had the thrill of skydiving once in 2005. She is looking forward to the April date for her second jump, because as she says, “Besides my ears popping and hurting, it was a blast.” Though her husband Jim doesn't want to skydive, he does come and cheer her on and take pictures.

Throughout the years there have been over 20 friends who have joined the trio in their various jumps.

Tom's love of skydiving has become a family affair. His daughter Krystal and her boyfriend Carlos, his son Tom and son-in-law Tony have been among the divers who have joined the group. Tom' s wife Cindy & daughter Nicole have both taken "observation rides" in the plane as the others jumped out.

There are always new skydivers who want to join the bunch. Seven years after Mort's initial jump, her friend Stacy (Sticka) Propson asked to go along. Tom convinced his boss, Pete Thielman, and his son to jump two years ago.

One of Mort' s friends made the comment last year, "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but my daughter Cindy said the other day that she'd like to go skydiving.” Well, after an email invite, the next weekend Cindy Geiser joined the group, Mort said.

Another jumper, Jessica Frisch, swam up to Mort during water aerobics after overhearing her talk about it during class. Shenna and Jon Ditter signed up after hearing Amy Schmitting mention it to another friend.

Through the years, the youngest jumper was 18-years-old, the youngest age allowed by law. The "most mature" so far has been a former teacher of Tom, Amy and Mort. Chuck Schuknecht joined them two years ago to take his first skydive at the age of 67.

“I would never have believed years ago when I was in school that someday I'd be jumping out of an airplane with one of my teachers,” Mort said. “It was awesome.”

The group has new people waiting to join them this year. One of them, Brian Sattler, just turned 18. His two brothers, Ben and Nick, have jumped with us in the past and are planning on joining the group again this year. Another repeat jumper will be Kayla Brenner. Also, there are some 17-year-olds who are anxiously awaiting their next birthday so they can join the group.

“It's so cool to be able to hang out with friends of all ages who are so excited about jumping from 13,500 feet,” Mort said.

That's right. Thirteen thousand, five hundred feet. With 50 seconds of free fall.

“It's absolutely amazing. It's like you're a bird or on a really fast Harley! When you flip out of the plane, you're above the clouds. The wind whips at you from every direction and it's sensory overload. At that point, you're free-falling at 125 miles per hour. Then at 5,000 feet when the chute opens, it's completely quiet except for the fluttering of the parachute,” Mort said.  “After about 10 minutes of floating and spinning, you're back on the ground and anxious to jump again.”

The three friends highly recommend skydiving to any adventure seekers.

As for the Polar Plunge, Mort became an "Official" Polar Bear in 2004. She's always in

Lake Winnebago from March until November, but there' s not a club for that, Mort said.

There is a club for Polar Bears in Lake Michigan, however. She credits her first Lake Michigan plunge to her neighbor and friend Scott Sonntag. Sonntag, a former Sheboyganite, had polar plunged for years before getting married and moving to Chilton Mort said she bugged him enough until he agreed to start Polar Plunging again in 2004. This year, Sonntag’s 12-year-old daughter Emily made her first plunge.
As with skydiving, there have been many friends who have joined the group throughout the years. Amy Schmitting has been a Polar Bear for three years and Tom Bittner became a Polar Bear this year for the first time.

Polar Plunging is also quite a rush, Mort explained. Participants register at a Sheboygan bar before heading to the beach to line up for the official plunge at 1 p.m. on New Year's Day.

The group that jumps with Schmitting, Bittner, Mort & Sontag signs up at the bar and then heads to the house of some friends. Those friends, John & Julie Bueter, live a couple of blocks from the lake.

The group of Polar Bears then marches to the lake, along with John, his daughter and her fiancee, and a host of others. Julie Bueter and Sonntag's wife Barb are wonderful photographers and towel holders. When they reach the beach, they join approximately 300-400 other Polar Bears, waiting for the official start.

Many plungers are dressed in costumes. Through the years there have been more than one Elvis, a guy riding an ostrich, a Statue Of Liberty, a Buddha, a chicken and of course, a furry Polar Bear, to name a few. Some people are in swimsuits, others are in shorts and T-shirts.

You can wear anything you want, however, absolutely no socks are allowed, Mort said. If anyone is spotted wearing socks, they will be surrounded and a chant begins: "No socks! No socks! No socks!" Socks are considered a sign of "warmth" and that's not allowed, Mort said.

A couple seconds before one-o-clock, the countdown begins, along with the crowd screaming, “It’s not cold enough! It’s not cold enough!”
As the clock strikes one, the hundreds of Polar Bears run to the lake, while hundreds of other warmly-dressed, sane people watch, cheer and take photos.

Some Polar Bears rush right in and right back out. Others play in the waves. Either way, when you get out, you're completely numb, Mort said.

This year the air temperature was ten degrees Farenheit, with the wind chill added in it was 0 degrees. There were whitecaps on the lake.

“It was such a blast,” Mort aid.

After the plunge, the group quickly walks back to the Bueter’s house, "freeze drying" along the way. When they reach the house, they find a place to change, put all their wet things in garbage bags to take home and head back to the bar to "warm up" with a hundred or so of their closest friends . It takes about 1/2 hour before they can feel their fingers and toes again.

“People ask ‘And you call THAT fun?'” Mort said. “‘Yes, we dol!’ she replies. It’s not cold enough and it’s not high enough.”
Share Link: Share Link: Google Yahoo MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Facebook Myspace Reddit Ma.gnolia Technorati Stumble Upon