International skydiving talent comes home to the North East
Four local business men have settled back home in the North East and are taking the former Peterlee Parachute Club in Shotton Colliery to new heights in its fresh incarnation as Sky High Skydiving, which is open and ready to go for the 2020 season.
Former owner and chief instructor, Ian Rosenvinge, has handed over control of the skydiving centre to Bryn Chaffe, Mike Evans, Peter “Taf” Mather, and Nicky Johnston.
The new owners are all highly qualified skydivers with 40,000 jumps between them. Having worked in the sport all over the world, the takeover represents a homecoming for North East locals Mike and Bryn.
The decision to leave the sunny shores of Spain and settle back in his native North East was an easy one for advanced instructor and coach Mike Evans:
“I’ve been living away for a long time, and I’ve always wanted to bring world-class skydiving back to the North East, and the UK”.
For chief instructor Bryn the move is a bittersweet moment in his life, having lost his son Aiden in a tragic skydiving accident just last year. Bryn says:
“This is the culmination of a long skydiving journey for me. I’d always hoped I’d do this with my son”.
Peter Taf, a world-class formation skydiver, is excited to join forces on the new skydiving centre:
“This is a dream come true for me; a skydiving centre owned by skydivers, for skydivers.”
Nicky, pilot and expert skydiving equipment rigger, says:
“I’m excited to be part of this team, and part of this skydiving adventure.”
The new owners are keen to foster links with the local community and create opportunities in the area. The owners are all available for interview, and extend a genuine welcome to press and the public to come in for a coffee and meet the team. Peter Taf adds:
“Everyone’s equal here and everyone’s welcome. We’d love you to come on this journey with us.”
Sky High Skydiving, formerly Peterlee Parachute Centre, has been at Shotton Colliery since 1987.
Tandem jumps for fun or for charity are offered alongside the opportunity to learn to jump solo and gain internationally recognised skydiving licenses.
