iSkydive’s family and history

THE START OF OUR SKYDIVE JOURNEY

In 2001, our founder and CEO, Luther Kurtz, started his first skydiving center in Northern Michigan. He ran things out of the back of his car (an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, for the record) in the Parachute Landing Area of this scenic region. Together with his only other employee, pilot Greg Bentley, they completed 160 tandem jumps in their first season as a business.

In those early days, Luther would meet their skydivers at the PLA for a comprehensive training session before riding them to the airport in the Oldsmobile. Greg would then take them to the skies for a scenic flight around Little Traverse Bay before dropping Luther and his tandem diver over the PLA. Thanks to the speed of freefall, Luther and the buzzing diver would land first before Greg eventually descended back at the airport. Greg would then drive the Oldsmobile back to the PLA just as Luther finished packing the parachute and training the next student.

At the end of the day, they would edit the customer videos and send the VHS by United States Post to the customer to relive the powerful, adrenaline-inducing memories at home with their friends and families.

This was the beginning of a nationwide business that now takes care of over 3,000 skydives per day.

HOW OUR PLUNGING PROGRESSED

After a few successful seasons in Northern Michigan, Luther teamed up with Andy Rowell, and together they flew their small Cessna 182 to San Diego in time for winter. Here they started another skydiving center at the Brown Field Airport.

From there, Andy took over the San Diego center, and Luther embarked on a journey to start more skydiving centers across America. He added a new location to their portfolio each year for eight years while still returning home to provide tandem skydiving in Northern Michigan for the summers. This added Lansing/Detroit, Phoenix, Miami, Los Angeles, Fort Myers, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. into their smorgasbord of skydives.

Later, with the help of Chief Operations Officer Imre Bucsanyi, New York and Dallas were added to the iSkydive America family of skydiving centers.

This enthusiastic spirit of expansion isn’t over yet. The team gets a massive kick out of sharing the buzz of skydiving and we plan to keep offering it to as many people as possible. Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico — who knows where you’ll spot an iSkydive America next.

WHAT WE STAND FOR NOW

Since the very beginning, our business has existed to offer the unbeatable feeling of freefalling from a plane to the people of the United States. With nine locations from the West Coast to the East, we’re now the proud leaders of the American skydiving scene.

Our iSkydive America locations include the most sought-after jump locations in the USA, with each of these drop zones sharing an unquestionable dedication to safety and customer experience. Whether you’re a first-timer, an enthusiastic regular diver, or looking to go pro, iSkydive America can propel you along your skydive journey.