Rye stymies skydive trip
Emerson Wong, a fourth-year ITM student, just wants to go skydiving. So far, everyone he's talked to at Ryerson has gone out of their way to point him in another direction.
"The Adventure Society seems to be in limbo right now because they don't have any insurance," Wong said after attempting to create a skydiving trip through the group. "They told me that I'd be best off putting some posters up around the school to get people interested."
This is where Wong's predicament gets complicated. In order to put posters up around the school for the event, he needs the Students Administrative Council to approve it.
"I talked to RyeSAC but they said I needed to be backed-up by something...like the Adventure Society," explained Wong. "So you see my problem."
Students may recognize the 23-year-old Ryerson student as the guy who flips off stairs and does crazy stunts around campus. Wong has also been most notably featured in the Treble Charger music video for "Don't Believe it All." Wong was the kung-fu fighting waiter in the video.
Also a member of Toronto's only extreme martial arts team, Wong has always been interested in "exploring the limits of the human body." Understandably, skydiving is on Wong's list of things to do.
"Just to get the feeling of flying through the air," says Wong, "you have to do it once in your life."
The trip will take place Nov. 1. Participants will be meeting at the Scarborough Town Centre for their jump to take place just south of Wasaga Beach.
Although Wong has deemed it, "The Ryerson Skydiving Trip," he makes sure to point out it is in no way affiliated with Ryerson. The trip, which will cost about $250 per person, will be open to anyone, Ryerson student or not.
The event is already starting to generate a large response.
"I've heard a lot of people saying they're interested," says Grace Lee, the public relations representative from the former "Ryerson Adventure Society." The "Ryerson" at the beginning of the group's name has since been removed due to a new policy at Ryerson designed to limit the institution's financial risk.
She explains that the Adventure Society couldn't back Wong's trip because of their insurance situation. "There's the whole liability issue," Lee says.
Wong claims the training involved before the jump "actually makes it pretty difficult to hurt yourself."
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