“Beagle Boogie Babe” is a female “Into The Wild”, with Joan Carson being the Chris McCandless of the 70′s.

A Cheerleader in high school, Joan was on the run from her past, and sought out adventure and community as her solace and family.  Along the way she became a skydiving pioneer; the first woman to jump in Medford, Oregon where she started the Beagle Boogie Babes who along with the Beagle Boogie Boys would push the envelope for risky maneuvers both in the air and on the ground.

Ironically, Joan would be killed doing the very thing she loved most, skydiving.  Her accident is a mystery.

While in Medford, Joan caught the eye of a rival skydiver from Kalispell, Montana who was wintering over along with his Osprey Parachute Club. She fell in love with him and migrated north to Montana. There she helped found Lost Prairie Skydive Center.

Joan’s dream was to live at the dropzone amongst fellow skydivers. She bought twenty acres and shortly before her death moved a cabin onto the property. Unfortunately she never realized her dream, and was only 30 years old when she died.

But Joan’s legacy lives on. Today many of the original Osprey members still live at Lost Prairie and it is one of the top five boogies in the country attracting skydivers from all over the country and world.

Beagle Boogie Babe reconstructs Joan Carson’s past while asking the following questions:

Why did she take the risks she did? What drove her to continue jumping after suffering two serious accidents?  What events surrounded that fateful day?

Perhaps making a film about Joan would provide those answers for Filmmaker Paul Gorman — who knew her in high school and spent time with her in San Francisco in the early 70s when she was just getting into skydiving.

Joan’s story unfolded on its own in a manner that will make you laugh and cry, and surprise.

The result is an emotional and a mystical journey into the world of skydiving in the 1970′s as filmmaker Paul Gorman seeks answers about the life and the lingering questions that still surround the death of pioneering skydiver Joan Carson.

You can watch the trailer above in HD and fullscreen by clicking on the controls at the bottom of clip.

You can watch the trailer above in HD and fullscreen by clicking on the controls at the bottom of clip.