Today we’d like to introduce you to Leon Roullard.
Hi Leon, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Love to. So I was originally introduced to Skydiving on my 18th birthday when I went for a tandem skydive at Skydance Skydiving in Davis California. After landing, I was convinced skydiving was where I wanted to spend the rest of my life, but I was initially encouraged to focus on other occupations as my source of income.
I spent several years working as a commercial diver in Southern California, the Gulf of Mexico, Monterey Bay, and the South Pacific.Along the way, a buddy and I picked up skydiving as a hobby.
I spent several years jumping here and there but was not really convinced I could turn it into a career until 2005 when I met some BASE jumpers who reignited my passion for parachute-related activities. I spent the next 12 years working in the sport of skydiving as a coach, videographer, fabricator, and tandem skydiving instructor. During this time, I spent two years working under the tutelage of the staff at Apex BASE.
While there I learned first hand about the ins and outs of parachute system design and assembly and acquired my FAA Senior Rigger’s ticket. In 2018, some friends and I pooled our resources and purchased a skydiving dropzone just outside of Salt Lake City in Nephi, Utah. Over the past four years, my two partners have moved on to other projects, and I’ve now run Skydive the Wasatch as the sole owner since August 2019.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been an interesting and exciting road for sure. The initial challenges of running a skydiving dropzone with multiple partners were particularly difficult in the first two years, but we worked hard to make sure that the business flourished and grew each year. Once I took over as the sole owner in 2019, things were smooth sailing for a bit. Then when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it presented a whole new bucket of challenges and obstacles.
We began tweaking our day-to-day operations to follow all state and federal guidelines, implementing additional health and safety protocols, and took every measure we could to ensure the safety of our staff and skydiving students. Stressful for sure, but obviously worth it.
Also this season, contractors have been particularly difficult to find, similar to what the restaurant industry has been going through. Even so, we’re super proud to have the awesome staff that we do now, and they’ve done an incredible job pivoting with us and continuing to make skydiving with us an awesome bucket-list experience.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At Skydive the Wasatch we focus specifically on the Tandem Skydive experience. Someone’s first skydive is a particularly unique and special moment. We strive to guide each student through their first skydive experience, helping each person have the most incredible, life-changing experience possible.
From our side of things, being able to participate in someone’s first skydive is a truly unique and special opportunity. At Skydive the Wasatch we take the time to connect with each student and help them get the most out of their first skydive experience.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Ah yes, risk. When talking about skydiving everyone likes to bring up the “risk”.
We take risks every time we step out the door of our homes and climb into our cars. We often take these risks without a second thought and rarely gain anything from having taken them. Studies have shown that taking risks with intention can benefit both our minds and bodies in many ways. Tandem Skydiving is one of those intentional risks we can take with huge benefits and thanks to modern technology like AAD’s, Sigma Tandem Systems, and formal Tandem Instructor training relatively low risk.
Perhaps the next risky decision you make will change your life or maybe you’ll just be getting groceries. Your choice.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@skydivethewasatch.com
- Website: www.skydivethewasatch.com
- Instagram: skydivethewasatch
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skydivethewasatch
Image Credits
Skydive Nephi LLC
