When Kathryn Dean asked her daughter about Christmas and what she might want as a present, she got hit with a request that seemed right out of the clear blue sky. And that’s what the two of them ended up doing — jumping into the clear blue sky from 13,000 feet Labor Day Weekend.

Dean, who works for the State Bar of Montana, tossed out the question early in summer and then volunteered to go along when she heard the answer.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but just never pursued it,” the 64-year-old grandmother said recently. “I thought she might want something useful like a fire pit, but she said ‘I want to go skydiving.’ And, I said, ‘I want to go, too.’ ”

After a few minutes on the Internet, they were scheduled to dive out of a plane with tandem partners who frequently land on the field prior to University of Montana football games.

Dean went along for the thrill, while her daughter, Susan Hedrick of Belgrade, started into something that might be a lifetime passion.

“Now that I’m getting a little older, I’m starting to look at myself more,” Hedrick, 43, said. “My youngest son is only two years away from graduating high school and then probably moving out and I’ve realized there’s so many things I’ve wanted to do but haven’t because all my time has gone to my kids.

“I’ve looked at myself and thought I haven’t done enough or seen enough so I want to do the things I’ve always wanted to do. And skydiving is on the list.”

Hedrick, a single mom, said hearing her mother volunteer caught her by surprise.

“I think I would have done it alone, but it was really nice having my mom with me,” she said. “It was exciting telling people what I was going to do and then telling them my mom was going, too.”

The actual dive lasted only about six minutes — one minute of free fall and then five minutes under a parachute, but the experience included all the build-up.

“That was one of the really neat parts,” Dean said. “Once we got our jump suits on and were walking to the plane, I felt like I should be waving at the crowd, like I was going on aboard the Space Shuttle.”

Both of them paid to have their jumps filmed, which bumped the cost to almost $350 each.

“The money is an issue,” Dean said, “but it’s worth it. What an experience, what a thrill.”

Dean said she would jump at the chance to jump again, although it might have to start as another Christmas present.

“I like to hike and go rafting, but I’ve never done anything like bungee jumping, nothing like that, so this really came from nowhere,” she said. “My daughter was the catalyst.”

Hedrick said she’s hooked, regardless of what Santa brings next year.

“There’s people who go cliff jumping with parachutes near Bozeman, and I’d like to give that a try,” she said. “I can see bungee jumping, too. I think I’m going to be a thrill seeker.”

Having raised a thrill seeker might be something that hits Kathryn Dean from out of the blue, too, just like skydiving.

Sports Editor Cliff Pfenning: 447-4070 or irsports@helenair.com