Born:
08/23/58 in Quincy, IL
Education:
Quincy Sr. High School, 1977
Quincy College, B.S. Biology, 1982
Quincy College, B.S. Chemistry, 1983
Occupation:
Skydiving Instructor
Sports Participating in now:
Skydiving, mountaineering, mountain biking, road cycling, weight
lifting, tennis, in-line skating, scuba diving, downhill and cross
country skiing
Sports Participated in the past:
Competitive swimming, moto-cross, bicycle racing, taekwondo, racquetball,
competitive weight lifting, soccer, baseball
Athletic and Sports Accomplishments:
- Summitted the highest peaks on 6 continents with husband Stan.
Weather and broken ribs prevented us from summiting on Mt. Everest.
- 5/92 Summited Mt. McKinley (North America)
- 9/92 Summited Mt. Elbrus (Europe)
- 12/92 Summited Kosiusko (Australia)
- 2/93 Summited Aconcagua (South America)
- 8/95 Summited Kilimanjaro (Africa)
- 12/93 Summited Vinson Massif (Antarctica)
- 4/94 - 6/94 Attempted Mt. Everest via Great Coular Route on North
Side
- Co-organized and designed the formations in 3 skydiving world
record events in 1995.
- Named one of 7 most accomplished women in the Chicago area
by Windy City Sports Magazine in 1994.
- First skydiving world record with 320 jumps August 8, 1988
on 144-way in Quincy, IL.
- USPA: AFF/I, SL/I, Vector Tandem Instructor.
- Edited World Skydiving Association Student Training Manual
written by Roger Nelson.
- First jump made out of Safair C-130 Hercules in 1986 at World
Skydiving Convention. Made first static line jump in backyard
a month later in Quincy.
- Starting soccer goalkeeper for Quincy College 4 years. Named
to many all-tournament teams.
Community Service:
Board of Directors Quincy Community Theatre 1978 - 1981.
National Alumni Board, Quincy College 1987
Who's Who in American Women
What you get out of Sports:
From the first swim team to a 200+ person skydiving formation,
I've always loved to be a part of winning. I've always given 100
percent to the goal no matter how large or small. Sports gives
me a purpose and goal in life. I like both individual sports events
and team sports. As a women growing up in the 70's there wasn't
the opportunities to join sports activities that there are now.
I played soccer on the boy's team during high school because there
wasn't enough interest in fielding a girls team. I'm very happy
to see more opportunities opening up for the young women of today.
My mom always told me a could do anything I wanted. She was right
but back then you had to really be hard headed to stick with the
"all boy" sports that I wanted to participate in.
What you still want to do in sports:
The obvious is to finish the Seven Summits quest with my husband.
Getting back to Mt. Everest will be no small feat. We have been
asked on several expeditions but the $65,000 each is a little
steep. We are also planning on climbing the highest peaks in the
50 states. Already we have 14 of them climbed. We would also like
to become Snow Leopards in Russia. Having summited Mt. Elbrus
we have one of the summits accomplished. There are a couple more
to climb in a fabulous mountain range. As for skydiving, I would
like to be on more world record attempts. I enjoyed the Lake Wales
attempts immensely. Mainly I think because of the inexperience
of many of the skydivers. I love to teach and it was the ultimate
teaching them the ropes on large formations. They performed very
well and led to a successful camp.
How sports helps you in other areas of your life:
Sports I believe gives a person focus and discipline. I studied
Tae Kwon Doe for a number of years and the training was very beneficial
to all aspects of life. My husband and I try to keep physically
fit because we found it keeps us healthier mind and body. On the
mountains you must have a very strong mind to forget about the
pain you put yourself through day in and day out. The physically
strongest person is not the winner most of the time but the mentally
strongest person nearly always completes the goal.
Personal Accounts:
One of the first questions that many people ask me is, "What
are your parents like?" Well, I thought fairly normal when
I was growing up but now that I think about it they are extraordinary.
My father drove race cars for many year when I was very young.
We were always around racing of some sorts. My first airplane
ride was when I was 2 when my dad was at an airshow. The flying
bug bit him and he bought a plane before he even knew how to fly.
A taildragger no less! He now has 3 airplanes, all taildraggers
and an airstrip literally in the backyard. Mom played violin and
flute and loves the theater. She also was a tomboy growing up
and I guess I got a great mix from both of them. Growing up I
played piano, trumpet and drums. Dad bought us go-karts and motorcycles
when we were around 10. My brother and I raced both of them. My
brother and I were involved in the swimming team in the summer
and scouting in the winter months. We raised cattle and were responsible
for all the feeding including driving a very old truck to the
feedlot. I learned to double clutch at the tender age of 11!
Life was one adventure after another with my parents. We were
always flying off somewhere. I first saw parachuting at one of
the airshows and told my Dad that's all I wanted to do in my life.
It would take until 1986 when Roger Nelson brought the Skydiving
Convention to Quincy before I would realize that dream. Roger
needed Dad's airport for his aircraft and traded a tandem jump
for the privilege. I told Dad I wanted to jump and we drove on
out to the airport. Roger got me in a harness and a chap from
South Africa and I headed out to the ramp to board the C-130 Hercules.
It was the thrill of a lifetime for me. Totally hooked now I couldn't
wait to go again. I came back to the airport and wrapped a orange
piece of plastic around my wrist to make a fake band. I watched
the world record attempts in awe and promised myself I would be
on the next record somehow. A month later Roger held a static
line class at my Dad's airstrip in the backyard. My Dad, step-mom
and I were on load one with Roger flying and jumpmastering. I
really loved it and made 10 jumps in 2 days. Two short years latter
I was on the 144-way held in Quincy with a little over 300 jumps.
Skydiving plays a big part in my life but is no means the only
activity. All during high school I played in the band, orchestra,
symphony and jazz bands. I was also involved in theater and photography
as well as soccer and racquetball. After high school I worked
at the community theater and thought seriously about going to
New York to try my hand and stage management. I decided to go
to college first and ended up with degrees in biology and chemistry
with honors. Most everyone is really amazed at that since I rarely
attended any high school classes except for music. I loved soccer
and played goalkeeper all the years I was in college.
Made my first mountain climb in Mexico in 1986. I really didn't
know anything about mountaineering but the brochure said I could
learn. Just about died from cerebral edema on the first peak but
came around and did great on the second and third. Concentrated
more on skydiving after that and got my jumpmaster ratings in
1988. I truly love to teach skydiving just about more than anything.
I've taught close to 700 static lines and around 600 AFP students
over the years. When I met my present husband I was a pharmaceutical
representative for Merck. We hit it off right away and soon we
were planning a trip to Europe together. He flew a single engine
plane across the Atlantic for another doctor. We just drove around
countries for 3 weeks. Lucky for me I had the time off work since
I broke my leg hitting another jumper in freefall. On a scuba
trip to the Keys, Stan proposed 70 feet underwater. We got married
in our plane over Quincy later that year.
We started climbing some mountains in Colorado and both enjoyed
it very much. We decided to get some formal training out in Washington
and promptly got hooked on climbing high mountains. Traveling
to all the continents has been extremely rewarding and we are
looking forward to more climbs in the future. Everyone asks about
training for such demanding climbs. Before we climbed Mt. McKinley,
I got tested at a physiology lab for endurance. I wanted them
to set up a training program for me. My Wingate scores tested
comparably to the Olympic men's team which meant my body is real
efficient in anaerobic activities. That's great for mountain climbing
at high altitude's. Usually we run and ride bikes. I train on
my road bike with a heart rate monitor most of the time doing
interval work. If we will have to be dragging a sled during the
expedition, I'll train by dragging a weighted sled with a pack
on down my Dad's airstrip. Very good workout and highly recommended.
Stan runs around the neighborhood for most of his training.
Looking to the future is something we both do often. Not a day
goes by when we don't grab the atlas looking for a different country
to see or know more about. If there was one thing I wish to pass
on, it would be to have people keep dreaming and persevering towards
their individual goals. Go for your goals for yourself and not
for anyone else. And remember that anything is possible. Never
say never.
(4/97) - http://www.MakeItHappen.com/skydive/bartlydd.htm
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