Mother Nature didn’t exactly bless Iowa with a topographic playground now did she? It’s flat. It’s farmy. It’s boring. But that’s what makes Iowans more creative and inventive than anyone else out there. What we lack in environment we make up for, with style. Enter Don Briggs. For those of you who already know him (which is more people that know you and me put together) let’s admit it, he doesn’t look like much. His crotchety exterior coupled with that sly smile eternally etched on his face makes you wonder if he’s that nutty guy that lives in every neighborhood or the devil in disguise. But spend two minutes with Briggs and you’ll find he is truly a treasure trove of adventure, kindness, and generosity (okay with a bit of nutty and devily mixed in). And although I’ll deny it if you tell him, Briggs is one of my heroes.
By summer he is a skydiver. By winter he is an ice climber. By day he is an adjunct instructor for the University of Northern Iowa’s School of HPELS (Health Physical Education Leisure Services). By night people say he fights crime with a cape and tights, but that’s a story for another time, and another website. The typical LAS athlete profile normally highlights one sport an athlete is involved in. But our Briggsy is anything but typical, so his spotlight is on ice climbing and skydiving both.
As I said in the beginning of my ramblings, Iowans must make up for what nature failed to grace us. Briggs is a star example of this with his pioneering of ice climbing in Iowa. I’m sure some of you may have noticed Iowa doesn’t boast any fantastic ice formations for us to climb, so our good pal Briggs created a solution. A solution that can be found on countless farms in the Midwest. Silos. The brilliant Briggs hatched a plan to ice down silos with hoses in order to create formations to climb and silo ice climbing was born.
Ten years ago Briggs took a UNI field trip to Wisconsin to climb and loved it. The subsequent eight years he took trips to Colorado to climb. He has traveled to Minnesota and Nepal to climb as well. A fantastic illustration of how adventure sports spiral us out. It starts with a trip to try something new and fun. It expands to traveling to other states and other countries as the fun turns into passion. And expands even more to teaching and inventing a different way to do it as the passion turns into fuel.
Briggs best moment in climbing can’t be narrowed down to one. According to him, “every moment is a great moment”. His advice to anyone interested in trying ice climbing is, “get proper instruction – don’t just go buy some equipment and think you’re an ice climber”. He adds, “If you go to a new area, get a guide”. Where do you find proper ice climbing instruction? Why at Rusty Leymaster’s farm (2524 Jepsen Road, Cedar Falls). You can find Briggs out there most weekends in the ice season (December thru March, depending on the weather). A $25 donation is all he asks if you would like to stop by, use some g
ear, and learn to climb.
When the ice melts and the planes are flying, Briggs heads to the drop zone to do a little skydiving. About 30 years ago Briggs was an assistant wrestling coach. One of the wrestlers told him he was going to skydive so Briggs tagged along to the student class. The wrestler made one jump and quit. Briggs made one jump and the rest is history. He’s jumped in about 10 states and holds multiple licenses including tandem instructor, for those of you that might like Briggs to take you for one heckuva ride. When I asked Briggs what his best moment has been so far in skydiving, he once again gave prime example of what an amazing person he is. His best moment was not being a part of a skydiving record, or learning a new skydive discipline, but rather was your run of the mill tandem skydive with a special person. When a Drake wrestler, who had broken his neck, became a quadriplegic and transferred to UNI for the handicap facilities, found out Briggs was a skydiver, he admitted to Briggs in 1989 how he had always wanted to skydive. So when the skydivers made their annual pilgrimage in late summer to Fort Dodge for a skydive boogie called Dollar Daze, the wrestler went with and made his skydive strapped to Briggs. They Velcro-ed their legs and arms together and jumped. Upon landing many skydivers were on the ground to catch them and bear witness to this special skydive. As Briggs tells it, it was an incredibly touching moment and not a dry eye in the house. Except for the wrestler. Hands down Briggs claims this jump to be his all time favorite. Sweetness, Briggs. Sweetness.
I’m sad to say that we’ve barely touched the surface of this force we call Briggs, so my professional opinion is that you all get to know him personally yourselves. Trek up to Cedar Falls for an ice climbing lesson. No matter how many people are out there, he’ll make sure you climb. Stop by Paradise Skydives in Vinton to go on a tandem skydive with him.
Briggs is quite a fellow. He kicks adventure butt locally in Iowa and across the world. He invents. He teaches. He spirals. With his interests from skydiving, rock climbing, mountain climbing, ice climbing and more, his only goal is to be able to continue doing these things for a long, long time. My spidey senses tell me that this is not an unattainable goal by any means. That is why Live Action Sports is proud to present Don Briggs as the first Live Action Hero. Congrats, Briggsy. You rock.
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