Shannon, once a hockey player on a men’s hockey team in college and a skydiver of 15 years, is pictured post-jump, visiting children within the crowd of a hot air balloon festival in Plano, TX. September 24th, 2022. In a later interview, Shannon was able to officially introduce herself: “I’m Shannon. I grew up in Longmont, CO where there was an established skydiving facility. On the weekends and whenever it was sunny, I heard the planes and it just became this positive connotation because when you heard the planes, it was sunny, pleasant weather. People were outside in CO doing things. I saw the parachutes and it just became a norm for me.” With experience in not one but two male dominant fields, Shannon defies expectation by being one of the few female skydivers to fly head-to-earth rather than belly-to-earth, and looks forward to attaining her golden wings, signifying 1,000 jumps, within the next year.


– “The Leap Forward,” From the Ground, Up. © Shanna Lucas. 2022. Plano, TX.

Thriving in Male Dominant Spaces


"In CO they didn’t have any women [hockey] leagues so we were really lucky to find a group of guys that would let us be on their team in an all male league. It took a lot of persuading the league to let a co-ed team play in the male dominant hockey league. They eventually let us and it worked out. We had a really good group of guys that would allow us to go out and learn and they would teach us. But also, if they saw other teams taking advantage of the vulnerability they would go out and protect us. It was fun to be a part of that group of guys and that same similarity is in skydiving as well. There are groups of guys that will want to see women in there, will help them grow, protect them. Its really cool. Those men are out there, and I appreciate what they do for women in male dominated areas."


Dealing with Misogyny


"I want to say I’ve built up a little bit of a callus with that throughout my life. I love math, so when I started college, I went to CU Boulder for engineering, and so it was again, very male dominated. I stuck with my guy friends that supported me, even in engineering. When I started doing hockey, same thing. I stuck with the guy friends that supported me. Anyone else that made a comment or created a wall for me that I had to figure out how to get around, I would lean on my guy friends that supported me or I would fight my own way through or find a way around. In the skydiving industry I’ve had some negative comments, but again, I’ve been very fortunate to have guy friends around me that support me like a brother would a sister. They’ve been the ones to not only support me past those instances but support me in the sense that: “I know you can fly head-down. I’ve seen you do this before. I’m going to challenge you. I want to fly this formation pattern with you in freefall.” So that’s been something I feel really lucky to be a part of. Anybody that had a kind of conflict with me being in the sport, I just made a lot of space between myself and them. I’ve still been able to progress and succeed past where they created that initial wall."

Skydiver Shannon, pictured middle, descends to land as a contrail lingers above her. Suspended within the image, Shannon exists within a liminal space between descent and approach. – "An Aerial Landscape," From the Ground, Up. © Shanna Lucas. 2022. Plano, TX.

How did you tell your family?


"Once I finished the 7th certification jump…. I had that jump recorded. I took it to my family’s reunion in Minnesota that summer. I literally did not say anything, put it on the TV, just kind of walked away. A crowd amassed. They were all watching it and you didn’t know who it was until they landed. I took my helmet off when I landed and my Mom realized it. She looked over at me, came up to me…. Stomped her way over to me, and was like “you are the most beautiful hemorrhoid I’ve ever had.” So That’s kind of how I told my family that I started skydiving. I didn’t ask for permission. I just went with it. It was something I wanted to get into. Even then, when my parents first came to the skydiving facility to watch me make a skydive, one of the last things my dad said to me before I got on that plane to make that skydive was: "I know you are going to do something stupid, just don’t do something really stupid." I was like, "I love you too, I think I know what you are saying...""


- "Shannon's Paper Plane Letter Substitution," From the Ground, Up. © Shanna Lucas. 2022. Plano, TX.

It all started in 2007. I’ve been jumping for 15 years and loved every minute of it.

Shannon

Shannon's Letter


"Dear future lady Skydiver,


Leonardo da Vinci said "Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been + there you will always long to return." This statement couldn't be truer.


The space of freefall is like no experience you can find on earth. The views, sounds, + feeling of body flight will forever ignite a passion, drive + motivation within you. Its been a positive influence in my life to become a more community driven, stronger, + healthier individual.


Push past the limits + find a space to truly exist as the happiest you... Freefall is waiting.


Cheers,

Shann"


"Shannon's Letter," From the Ground, Up. © Shanna Lucas. November 3rd, 2022. Plano, TX.