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Global Angels Ambassadors Wendy Smith and Tom Noonan, make new World Record: skydiving and landing on the Kala Patthar plateau, at an altitude of 17,192 feet (5,242m), right beside Mt. Everest near Base Camp to help raise $1 million for children in Asia
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Thank you Terry, as always, your support is greatly appreciated.
In the second video I posted, the tandem skydiving footage is of me taking Le Mans champion race car driver Nick Leventis on a jump from 30,200ft the following year in 2010. It's an Everest Skydive record, going above 30,000ft MSL, and we did it for Nick's charity fund raiser. That one jump alone raised 100,000 GBP (about $160,000US) for Global Angels.
Outside of tandem skydiving safety seminars, I also give industry seminars on "Social Responsibility In Adventure Tourism" using the Everest Skydive expedition as the storyline.
The theme of the seminar is that for any adventure operation that utilizes natural resources and affects local populations, it is critical to ensure that the operations gives back as much, if not more to the community than it takes away. That's our mission with Everest Skydive and that is our mission with Skydive Laconia.
I have been very fortunate to have travelled the world the last five years skydiving and have seen and studied numerous business models in adventure tourism. Some may be completely self invested, other choose to share the economic benefit of the operation with the community. Which has a higher probability of long term growth and success? Yup. The environmentally minded, socially conscious operations that integrate their business models into the community as a whole.
To site an example, I recently spent six months in New Zealand. A national economy heavily invested in outdoor adventure tourism. Some of the most successful business models that exist there are no where to be seen here in the US. We plan to bring those business models to the Lakes Region, and it goes way beyond just skydiving. Skydiving however is the foundation. That is why this process is so critical.
Why do I mention New Zealand? Well if looked at the polar opposite side of the world in latitute and longitude, The south island of New Zealand is somewhere around the Maine/Canada border.
Like seasons. Like climates. Like mountain ranges. New Zealand and New Hampshire are as close to the same ecosystem/landscape/seasonal changes and offer almost identical outdoor adventure opportunities. New Zealand adventure tourism businesses thrive despite the economy as do all of the businesses that benefit from the economic stimulus these operations infuse into the local economies.
Imagine our little "dirt road business" bringing new business models and ideas to a region that is filled with untapped outdoor adventure tourism possibilities and all of the lodging, restaurants and ammenities to accommodate them year round?
Can we change the world and save the economy single handedly? Nope. Not at all. That's not what we are pitching. But are we capable of infusing new ideas and business models that could benefit a number of local businesses outside of our own? Absolutely. If you were elected as the Mayor of Laconia or as a Gilford Selectman by your community, should that local business growth possibility be of interest to you? If it were me, I would be very interested in learning more about something that could have a long term positive economic impact on the community I serve. But that's just me.
Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,
Tom