North Dakota Skydiving Museum takes off in West Fargo

WEST FARGO — Cooperstown has the “National Baseball Hall of Fame.” Cleveland has the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

But West Fargo has just become home to the North Dakota Skydiving Museum.

The museum pays tribute to the sport and the pioneer who jumped out of planes for 50 years and helped “jump-start” skydiving in this part of the Midwest.

Just off main avenue in West Fargo, tucked in next to a Subway, a new space packed full of everything related to North Dakota skydiving.

“These are the skydiving suits from the 50s and 60s,” Megean Solberg, museum director and daughter of Don Solberg, said. “This is a Pegasus suit from 1978, one of his parachutes he jumped with for a long time,” Megean said.

Megean Solberg is talking about the man behind the parachute: Don Solberg, her father.

“To be dedicated to a sport that many years, and especially skydiving, he just had so much passion for it,” Megean said.

Don started skydiving at age 22. His skydiving groups changed names over the years, but in the end, “Skydive Fargo” became the popular organization where hundreds of people in our region learned to skydive. Don would teach it in the basement of his house and then jump with those students. He loved the sport that much.

“It is just a feeling, that he was so proud of it , and I was so happy to be a part of something he was an entrepreneur in,” Megean said.

The museum is packed full of jump suits, photos, awards and history of skydiving in North Dakota.

“It is a testament to what one person can do,” Jim Krogh, longtime skydiver, said.

Krogh learned to skydive from Don Solberg back in the 80s.

“He was a character, and even if you didn’t know him, you would find out quickly that he was a skydiver,” Jim said of Don.

Jim has been jumping a lot since. A lot.

“4,610 jumps, actually,” Jim said of his jump total, so far. He is in Arizona this week for a big formation jump.

He called Don the constant promoter of skydiving in North Dakota. Never missing a chance to talk about it. When Don passed last year at the age of 79, he left all this behind. Decades of skydiving, along with close to 3,000 jumps and hundreds of people who now jump because of him.

“He was just one of those people who wanted to share his love for the sport,” Megean said.

There is no fee to see the museum.

The ND Skydiving Museum is located at 113 E. Main Ave. in West Fargo. For more information on the museum, you can reach out to (701) 866-3317 or

mlsolbergjobcoach@gmail.com