Keith Paulsen of Morrison, Ill., gets a high like no other when he’s literally floating among the clouds.
The 65-year-old native of DeWitt, Iowa, and retired carpenter will be traveling to Lake Wales, Florida this month to participate in a very special event – a world-record attempt for a global skydiving canopy formation. From November 10-23, 131 skydivers from around the world will gather to surpass the world record set in 2007 — a 100-person parachute formation in flight.
Paulsen has made 5,027 skydives over his career, since the mid-‘80s. He’ll represent Chicagoland Skydiving Center in Rochelle, Ill., and has spent years training at home and across the U.S. with jumpers from all over the world to prepare for this moment.
Paulsen usually jumps from 13,000 to 15,000 feet up. For the world record attempt, the planes will get up to 19,500 feet. There are usually eight planes altogether carrying jumpers (about 20 in each). Each person is added gradually to the formation, starting with a four-way diamond…