The following item in the Courier-Post was unfortunately not accompanied by an on-site photo.
Ed Wade sat for most of the day Thursday, waiting out the weather and hoping for a jump.
In the late afternoon, the former Philadelphia Phillies General Manager got one and it was “great.” At least, that is, until the wind caught him.
Wade spent some time hanging from tree branches after his skydiving landing went awry.
“My choices were the tree, a couple one-story buildings and some power lines,” he said Friday morning. “I thought the tree was the best alternative.”
In good spirits and sporting some minor scrapes, Wade said his jump went bad after wind prematurely pushed him into the “drop zone” at the Freefall Adventures skydiving outfit in Williamstown. He tried to circle around for the landing, but “took it a little too far.”
“I guess I became a tree-hugger yesterday,” Wade said.
He was helped down by the Williamstown Fire Department.
Wade, who was fired from the Phillies in October 2005, said he and a friend from the Navy’s Leap Frogs planned on spending the day jumping at Freefall Adventures but weather conditions kept planes from taking up jumpers until late in the day.
The jump was Wade’s 36th solo try. He began skydiving about 18 months ago, he said, when friends from the Leap Frogs took the time to teach him. He has a Class A License.
“I learned from the best,” he said. “I learned a little more yesterday.”