Take flight at SkyVenture NH

By Pamme Boutselis
NH Mirror Contributor

Laurie Greer has an addiction, and she’s not ashamed to admit it.

“I never had an addiction until I started skydiving,” she said. “You know that you are addicted to something when you start selling your things to pay for your new hobby.”

(Courtesy Photo) Laurie Greer of Bedford turned her addiction for skydiving into a business. She and her husband, Rob, own SkyVenture NH in Nashua.

That was 15 years and more than 2,500 jumps ago.

Fortunately, Greer’s hobby and her absolute love for skydiving led her and her husband, Rob, to turn their joint passion into a successful Nashua business – SkyVenture NH, an indoor vertical wind tunnel.

Greer introduced her husband to skydiving five years ago and with more than 500 jumps under his belt now, it was natural for the couple to look toward body flight when they considered opening a business together.

“We didn’t know what we wanted to do, but I suggested that we sell fun,” Greer said. “There is nothing better than selling fun.”

Whether young or old, everyone likes to fly in the tunnel, she said. There’s no special training needed, either.

“The fear factor is definitely less than real skydiving. Some people do get nervous but when you see a little 3-year-old buzzing around the flight chamber, how can you be scared?” she said. “The tunnel allows many people that would never jump experience the thrill of body flight.”

The Bedford couple met online, and Greer was amazed to find their profiles were almost identical. While both were pilots, only Laurie was a skydiver at the time.

That quickly changed, and their love of the skies quickly morphed into their love for each other.

Rob even proposed in the air, or at least tried to.

“We were at 13,000 feet, and he was all of a sudden kneeling in the open door on jump run (that is exit time). I thought that he was confused about the exit so I shoved him out the door,” Greer said.

He ended up getting down on bent knee again once he hit the landing field after their third jump of the day.

They were married on Oct. 1, 2006, in the flight chamber at SkyVenture with an air-to-air communication system piped out the flight deck so their 200 guests could hear.

“We said our ‘I do’s’ in the air,” Greer said.

Their guests were invited to fly from 2:30 in the afternoon to 4 a.m. the next day, certainly creating a memorable experience.

While SkyVenture NH is a regular destination for skydivers in training, the Greers also host their fair share of birthday parties, kids’ camps, bachelor and bachelorette parties and corporate outings. In fact, NH Business Review just gave them the nod as “Best Team Building Activity.”

For Laurie, the best part of owning SkyVenture NH is working side by side with her husband each day and selling fun.

“If the person doesn’t have a smile on their face when they walk in, they will when they leave.”

Next up for SkyVenture NH? Indoor surfing, coming soon.

For more information, visit www.skyventurenh.com.