True to her word, Priscilla Weston recently jumped out of an airplane, two months after celebrating her 100th birthday.
The former Temple resident decided to try skydiving after a lifelong fear of heights. She had her first driving experience with a Model T at age 11, but didn’t get in a plane until age 70.
“On the farm in Temple, I didn’t even want to go up a ladder,” she said.
Her jump was originally scheduled for the previous Saturday at Jumptown in Orange, Mass., but the weather did not cooperate.
“The clouds were low and we were told that the moisture in them could include ice pellets that would really hurt as we fell through them,” said Weston.
Weston shared her plan last winter with Karen Roberts, an aide at Spring Village at Summerhill in Peterborough, where she lives. Roberts said that she had always thought about skydiving as well, and agreed to accompany her. When clear skies made things a go, Weston and Roberts were suited up for the plane.
When Weston shared plans for her jump, her daughter Nancy Carter wasn’t surprised.
“She’s always done exactly what she’s wanted – she’s very determined,” said Carter, who offered an anecdote from Weston’s past that seems oxymoronic in light of her jump.
“Years ago, after she got her driver’s license, she was coming down Route 45 in Temple and someone traveling on Route 101 hit her. No injuries, just some damage to cars, and my mother said, ‘That’s it – I’m done,’ and she never drove again, after one accident — but she’ll jump out of a plane.” As to her opinion of her mother’s plan, “I actually thought it was pretty neat that she wanted to do this.” said Carter.
Carter noted that Jumptown, which is the oldest skydiving operation in the nation, go to great lengths to ensure safety. In spite of this and statistics from the United States Parachute Association which state that in 2024, only nine of more over 3.8 million skydives resulted in fatalities, Carter had an admission after the jump.
“I did worry a bit, but I didn’t tell her,” she said.
“The jump was made from 13,500 feet,” said Casey LaRue of Jumptown.
This is more than twice the altitude of Mount Washington, and LaRue said Thursday that the temperature up there was 37 degrees when Weston stepped into thin air. Weston’s tandem instructor was Chris “Belly” Bell, who she lauded.
“I was tethered to a very nice and proficient gentleman,” she said the day after the jump. “I thought I’d find it hard to step out of the plane, but I didn’t. We didn’t open the chute right away, so we were just floating for a while.”
LaRue said that the freefall lasted perhaps four minutes, and at 5,000 feet, the rip cord was pulled, allowing for a descent of another minute. Asked why someone who gave up driving after a fender-bender wasn’t wearing a helmet, LaRue explained that it could obscure the vision of the tandem partner, and knock into his head upon landing.
Weston said she didn’t even notice when the rip cord was pulled, as she was enjoying the view.
“The clouds, the trees, the lakes, it was beautiful,” she said, adding that she didn’t recall any big temperature change, but one ear was still blocked from the experience.
For touching down, Weston had to place her feet on top of Bell’s.
“The landing was OK. Actually it was smoother than the ride back from the landing zone in the cart,” she said.