A 90th birthday is a milestone that should receive recognition, but rarely does it involve celebrating by jumping out of a plane.
In Cortez resident Vern Crites’ case, however, that is exactly how his 90th birthday was ushered in — by jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet.
“I’m glad I did it,” Crites said. “I liked it, but I don’t think I’d do it again at my age.”
Crites didn’t skydive alone. He was joined in the air by eight members of his family, including his son-in-law, grandsons, a grandson-in-law, a nephew and a great-grandson.
“It was minus 30 degrees Celsius,” Crites said. “It was cold. The first minute you fall, you free fall. You go a long ways in that first minute. You get up to 130 miles an hour falling.”
Despite the cold and the height, Crites said he had no time to get scared and was determined to see the jump through.
“You’re committed. Once you’re in that airplane, you’re pretty well committed. I had no desire to back out, so I was determined to do it,” Crites said. “I don’t think many people do it on their 90th birthday.”
Crites noted that the idea of skydiving for his 90th birthday was inspired by former President George H.W. Bush, who also went skydiving for his 90th birthday.
“I thought, ‘Well, if he can do it, I can do it,’” Crites said. “I thought at that time that was quite a feat, and I’ve been really blessed with good health and longevity. I’ve outlived all my siblings and lived longer than my parents did, so I feel really blessed. I thought, ‘Well, I want to do something a little different.’”
While the jump itself was thrilling, Crites said that the best and most memorable part of the day was being able to jump and spend time with his family.
“It was exciting, but the fun part of it was that so many members of the family were jumping the same day,” he said.
Though eight members of the family skydived with him, his whole family was in attendance to watch him jump.
“I have one daughter living, my son passed away, and I have nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren,” Crites said. “They all live right here in the Cortez area, and they were all there that day.”
When asked about his next birthdays, Crites laughed and said that he did have some ideas for more fun birthday celebrations.
“I would like to kayak the Colorado River,” he said. “I told somebody today I might go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, but of course, that was a joke.”
