I met Cole Chapman in 2006 at the Des Moines Skydiver’s Dollar Daze Boogie in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He was introduced to me as Wonderboy; which apparently was an endearing nickname given to him by his instructors at Tri-State Skydive. My initial thoughts about Wonderboy were that he barely looked 13 years old and that he had a permanent Cheshire grin on his face like he was enjoying a joke you weren’t privy to. In the years following I saw Cole at the occasional dropzone or skydive event (I specifically remember the Dubuque Boogie where he bought one of Live Action Sports’ radical shirts). Knowing I should keep tabs on Cole but not knowing why, I followed his adventures, or at least the ones he posted on Facebook. Finally, when he road tripped to California to surf, I insisted I get a first-hand account of the escapade to post on Live Action Sports’ website. To accompany the account, I also requested a brief biography so readers could get to know a little about the Wonderboy.
Of course in true Wonderboy fashion Cole sent me a two page philisophical and self-auditing overachievement. He took the opportunity to get a little emotional and really dug in to find out why he seeks the adventure soaked life he does. So without further ado, I’d like for everyone to meet Cole “Wonderboy” Chapman, uncensored and unedited, in his own words. Get to know him and get to love him, kids, because if we’re lucky we will be seeing more of him here at Live Action Sports in the future. Note that Cole has still yet to send me anything about his surfing trip. AHEM, COLE.
Name: Cole Chapman
Birth date: January 26, 1988
Favorite Activities: Skydiving, Scuba Diving, Rock Climbing/Bouldering, Surfing, Unicycling, Bicycling, Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin, Piano, traveling.
Hopeful Future Favorite Activities: B.A.S.E., Paragliding, Private Pilots License, White Water Kayaking, more of all my current favorite hobbies, more traveling.
Dislikes: Structured Lifestyle, Organized Religion, Lack of Willingness, Lack of Non-Career Based Ambition, Lack of Spending (both monetary and time-wise) on Personal Satisfaction.
I suppose you could say skydiving was when I first began to explore the potential that I had, that all people have, to explore the brighter side of life… to take advantage of the best that humanities exploration of physics allows us, as individuals. My original ambition, maybe the reason I was always fascinated with skydiving, was because of a documentary I saw when I was 13 years old on a BASE jumper and skydiver by the name of Jeb Corliss. It was on OLN, kind of a biography showing how absolutely bad-ass he is. But beyond his bad-assness, I was intrigued by the freedom and spontaneity that seemed available with a parachute on your back. The thought of driving around with a rig in my passenger seat, seeing something with a lot of open air in front of it and jumping from it was a fantasy I couldn’t really get out of my head from that moment on. I started skydiving as a means to begin BASE jumping, I guess you could call skydiving a “gateway drug”.
I Started Skydiving in 2006, after graduation from High School. I’d been planning it since I was 13 and the weather was finally warm, so I’d put in a call to state my interest to Tri-State Skydivers in Lancaster, Wisconsin. A couple weeks later, I got the call that the skies and schedule were prime for my skydive – unfortunately I got this call just as my graduation party was about to begin. I had no choice but to prioritize and leave my graduation party as it was starting. Then, almost immediately after I took off my harness, I signed up for the AFF student training and paid in full – I didn’t want an excuse to turn back or get distracted. The next weekend, I began my evolution. It was a fantastic summer, and lifestyle change in general, the next couple years were full of fun and skydiving and skydivers and just general happiness. This last year of my life, unfortunately, has been a bit dry in my skydiving – I’ve been a weak person and let school/work get in the way… something I am most ashamed of.
Skydiving, I think, cleared a mental fog for me. For many people, things such as skydiving and climbing seem like distant, unattainable, activities – things that exist only for the sake of movies, not actually an opportunity for the average guy or girl. But throwing yourself into something, like skydiving, removes this perception and allows a person to realize how very possibly and easy it is to do whatever you like. I think that is why, when you get into a sport such as skydiving, people say that it is a lifestyle and not just a sport. Because, when you attain a goal or skill that you had previously perceived as unattainable, your outlook on your own potential and your life changes – and the opportunity cost for other things that didn’t make you as happy is increased.
“…and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return.” Leonardo Da Vinci
Like anything, the first step is the hardest. It is not hard to throw yourself out of an airplane into the emptiness, it’s not hard to learn to fly your body and manipulate the relative wind, nor is it difficult to land a parachute… once you are in the situation to do such things, it seems almost natural to do them. With Einstein’s theory of General Relativity it was made apparent that the only time any object is completely free of all forces acting upon it is in freefall. Falling through open air is the most natural, relaxed, and free a person can be – it is a moment of complete existential omnipotence… trippy, right?
Anyway, from there, I continued to find new environments and situations to put myself into. The biggest problem I have is sticking with something, just one thing. As soon as I start to get somewhat proficient in any activity or sport, I find myself intrigued in something different and move on. I always come back or still dabble in what I’ve done, and I love having the gear/training/capabilities to take advantage of opportunities I stumble upon because of what I’ve done in the past… but I would certainly like to have one thing that is “mine”, something that I’m the best at and can really be proud of. That’s my one big desire.
“It is one thing to be in the proximity of death, to know more or less what she is, and it is quite another thing to seek her.” Ernest Hemingway
I have a lot of “personal” work to do on myself, I suppose all of us do. Part of the reason I originally explored the “high-adrenaline” sports was due to a bit of personal unhappiness and longing – trying to fill some void. I think that’s the reason for a lot of people in first involving themselves in some of these sports. You could argue that the same basic philosophy applies to drug users, you do things in an attempt to feel different, or move forward as a person. That may be why I move to so many new activities all the time, who know. It does seem to be a general trend that once a person gets into one high adventure sport they find themselves involved in, or longing to be involved in, more and more different adventure sports. Which brings us back to skydiving being a “gateway drug”, what a nice connection! Physiologically healthier than pharmaceutical/street drugs, and likely works much better to move forward as a person. I suggest you give it a try.
In the end, whatever makes you feel happy and free is what you should find yourself doing.
Here’s to adventure – to learning, exploring, experiencing, and growing.
-Cole Chapman 
Tags: Cole Chapman, Dollar Daze, Dubuque Boogie, surfing, Wonderboy
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