Make Her Mother’s Day

SkyVenture Colorado offers indoor skydiving, an alternative activity for Mom
by Natalie Villarreal

If wrapping up a pair of pearl earrings or planting yet another set of window boxes this Mother’s Day spurs a yawn for either you or your mother, you might want to consider the gift of adventure. But with moms, adventure often has to be moderated. In looking for something between class-four whitewater and long-reach watering cans, why not consider indoor skydiving?

With indoor skydiving, there is of course no plane necessary, nothing overwhelming, and good news for mother dear—nothing terribly risky. It is the perfect outing for families in that it provides the sought after freefall, without the fall. And lucky for South Denver families, indoor skydiving is the specialty of SkyVenture Colorado, located in Lone Tree.

The Sky Venture Website describes the indoor skydiving experience as “floating on a column of air,” where strong fans at the top of the vertical wind tunnel “draw the air up past you in the flight chamber” to produce a freefall effect. If positioning is held correctly, the diver will hover in the middle of the air chamber with a combined flying and floating sensation, in what SkyVenture calls “bodyflight.”

According to the Web site, indoor skydiving sessions start at $43 for children 12 and under and $48 for adults. The session includes a training tutorial, where one of the facility’s instructors covers proper body positioning and teaches the group a series of hand signals; the signals remind flyers to relax or reposition over the tunnel’s loud fans. All rental items are included in the flat rate—a jumpsuit, helmet, ear protection, and goggles. The first minute of the session ensures that the flyer’s basic positioning is correct and that the freefall sensation can be maintained. If the back is arched too much or if the arms are not held at 90-degree angles, the experience will be a turbulent one. But with the instructor’s guidance, flyers maneuver into an exhilarating freefall, and by the next one-minute session, the instructor will be twirling and spinning you before all walls of the tunnel and before all members of your family.

Group rates are available too, at $475 for up to 12 people with 24 minutes of flight time split among the group. Additionally, the wind tunnel is set up such that all members of a particular flight session can see each other “fly,” so even though indoor skydiving is an individual event, you all experience it together. And to do your mother and the refrigerator proud, everyone gets a souvenir flying certificate. Now that’s the complete Mother’s Day package.

SkyVenture Colorado is located at 9230 Park Meadows Drive in Lone Tree. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 303-768-9000.
Photos are courtesy of skyventurecolorado.com.

Timeout for Mother

Turn the tables, and give Mommy a timeout for a change
by Barrett Gray

When I was a kid, there were certain activties guaranteed to bring a timeout. Drawing on the walls with crayons? Check. Feeding a nasty dinner entree to the dog? Check. Announcing loudly in church that atheism would be so much more fun? Check, and mate.

Now it’s time to turn the tables, and send Mom to the corner. Give her a bottle of Mommy’s Time Out, and tell her it’s time for an attitude change. The difference is, this is a punishment she’ll actually enjoy.

Mommy’s Time Out, Pinot Grigio or Primitivo, is available at WineStyles in Englewood. Along with an extensive selection of vino, they have a number of gift baskets and gift ideas for Mother’s Day and other special occasions. They can even give you recipes designed to complement the wine. Now there’s no excuse not to wine and dine in the proper style.