Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
DRAPER — The extreme-sporting community is grieving after a Draper man died after his parachute opened too late while skydiving on the Oregon coast.
Matthew Gold's former roommate says Gold lived near the point of the mountain, in Draper, just so he could enjoy paragliding more often. He said he loved those adrenaline- type sports. Now, a small community of enthusiasts like him are having a tough time with his loss.
Gold, 34, had a personality his close friends won't easily forget.
"He just had kind of a laid-back, casual demeanor … just a great spirit," said Kevin Hintze, Gold's former roommate. "We always used to make fun of the ‘Matt smile,' the Matt grin, you know, just a big smile, pretty white teeth."
Hintze was Gold's roommate for about a year. They both took their sports seriously, even traveling to Turkey a few years ago to paraglide.
"Taking on that freedom aspect of living life," he said. "Getting into skydiving, base jumping, paragliding. It was who he was … the sports kind of identified him," Hintze said. "Besides just his charisma and demeanor."
Hintze says Gold helped teach him how to dive in a wingsuit.
"You'll see him flying around me, and he's just grinning from ear to ear as he's flying around me," Hintze said.
That's the same thing Gold was doing last Saturday when his parachute failed to open on time.
It was who he was … the sports kind of identified him. Besides just his charisma and demeanor.
–Kevin Hintze
"He managed to pull his parachute too low, and didn't have an inflated parachute by the time he hit the ground," Hintze said.
Investigators are still trying to figure out what happened. But Hintze says from all he's heard, he worries that his close friend just took one too many risks.
"Who knows what was going through his mind," he said. "I mean, I've had experiences where I've made close calls, and a lot of it is just because I'm so much in the moment, you know. For that one moment, I've been looking at something else … just admiring the view."
Now, employees at Cloud Nine Paragliding, where Hintze works, are remembering Gold for how he touched their lives.
"He was the most down-to-Earth, just spectacular guy I've ever met," said Justine White. "You just can't help but to smile when you're around him."
Investigators in Oregon are still looking for the cameras Gold was wearing to get a better idea of what went wrong. They believe somebody took the cameras, even though they're considered evidence in the case.
