Age No Bar Lt. Gen. Alok Kler

Performs Maximum Skydives at 60

A mountaineer, long-distance runner, a cyclist, scuba diver, motorcyclist, and now a skydiver, that’s Lieutenant General Alok Kler for you, an absolute adventure seeker. He performed six skydives from 12,000 feet (Above Ground Level) at the age of 60 at Mahajan, Rajasthan, during Army Adventure Wing Skydiving Course.

A fourth-generation Army Officer, Lt. Gen. Alok Kler (PVSM, VSM, General Officer Commanding in Chief, South Western Command), was commissioned in the year 1982 and retired from the Indian Army on 31st March 2021. Talking about his skydive attempt, he says, “I am an amateur skydiver and was seeking a solo skydive, which means an unassisted jump without experienced instructors hanging on to you during the free fall to keep you steady in the air. In the attempt to achieve a solo, I was lucky to find excellent weather conditions in Mahajan, Rajasthan, which helped me, to successfully attempt six free fall jumps between 8.30 am and 12.30 pm and achieve a record at the age of 60.”

Knowing that he was retiring in 29 days, he wanted to execute the free fall jumps as a birthday gift to himself. Lt. Gen. Alok Kler believes that immense support from his family, fabulous jump instructors, experienced helicopter pilots, weather and luck all conspired to ensure that he managed six consecutive jumps in about four hours.

Skydiving and free-fall both demand exceptional levels of physical fitness and mental alertness. He underwent ground training for a week but, it was his peak physical fitness over the years that helped him in this endeavour.

Talking to IBR about the feeling, the moment he dived, he says, “Skydiving gives a new perspective for gravity. It makes one experience weightlessness resulting in an extreme adrenaline rush. Terminal velocity enables the acceleration of a human body to descend a thousand feet in five seconds. After flying for 50 seconds with the birds, the terrain starts appearing closer as one drops altitude. This mesmerising, exhilarating and addictive experience creates vivid impressions of how close a man can come to being a bird!”

Elaborating further about his experience, Lt. Gen. Alok Kler says, “The helicopter took off from a helipad at Mahajan near Suratgarh, where the ambient temperature was over 30 degrees, and it took about 15 minutes to reach 12,000 feet. The temperature at that altitude was close to 10 degrees and below. Falling from 12,000 to 5,000 feet in 45 seconds with the buffeting of the wind at terminal velocity along with the fast-changing temperature is an extraordinary experience, which also takes a physical toll. After the parachute deploys, approximately five to eight minutes of hang time is available before landing on the terrain. The landing needs precision, physical and technical expertise. To repeat this process six times in a continuous cycle was an event in itself.”

Lt. Gen. Alok Kler has no intention of stopping at just skydive; he has two more endeavours on his bucket list. The first is to cycle from Leh to Kanyakumari in 20 days and the second is to scale Mt. Everest.