Jumper Profile: Fred Karr

Meet Fred Karr

1. Where are you originally from and what brought you to the Carolinas?
I’m originally from Baltimore, but came here for work and the weather.

2. What year did you make your first skydive?

It was at Skydive Greenville in 1999. My first jump was a static line jump and my jumpmasters were none other than Burke Fitzpatrick and Ron Alley.

3. What about your first experience made you keep going back to the DZ?I was hooked from the moment I hung from the strut of the 182.

4. Today you fly a Velocity… what has been your canopy progression to this point?

I Had a 190 triathalon for about 300 jumps, then I jumped Stillettos for about 2000 jumps before I went to Velos.

5. Who has been your skydiving mentor(s)?

An instructor named David Todd originally. But have learned so much from so many of the people at Skydive Carolina. Too many to list I guess.

6. How many skydives do you currently have?

Your guess is as good as mine.

7. Of all the skydives you’ve made, what are the top three skydives that stand out more than any other?

• My first AFF jump – with Judy Girard out of a CASA
• My first big way: 40-Way with the Carolina Flock. Jumped with my helmet still hooked to my chest strap!
• Jumping out of the 727 at Rantoul, Illinois at the World FreeFall Convention

8. When you’re not skydiving, what do you enjoy doing?
White water kyaking and mountain biking.

9. Many skydivers who have been jumping for a long time can get burnt out. What about the sport keeps you from burning out?

The challenge and reward of working with students.

10. If you could offer three pieces of advice to new skydivers, what would it be?

• Learn everything there is to know about your parachute.
• Challenge yourself to become more and more accurate with it.
• Don’t be afraid of your canopy. Have fun learning what it can do. I think most people would be surprised by what they could do with their canopy if they focused on it.

11. What is something about you that few people know about?
I write left handed but do almost everything else right handed.

12. If you could sit down and have lunch with anyone (alive or dead), who would that be?
I’d like to have another beer with Lobo.

13. If you could do anything differently in your skydiving progression, what would it be?
I wish I had started sooner. Don’t know why I wasted the first 28 years of my life not skydiving.

14. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
One of these days I want to go camping and hiking in Alaska.