Tag: BASE jumpers

Bridge Day Panel OKs Finger Scans, Jumpers Protest

  The Bridge Day Commission has decided to require BASE jumpers, reppellers and vendors to undergo finger scans.

Commission members voted unanimously on Wednesday to require the scans. Commission members say the scans are less intrusive than the one-day festival’s current background checks.

Several jumpers criticized the requirement during the meeting’s public comment segment. Marcus Ellison of Fayetteville said jumpers feel insulted by the requirement.

Alan Lewis of Tennessee is organizing an alternative event in Twin Falls, Idaho, where jumping off the Perrine Bridge is allowed year-round. He says Twin Falls welcomes jumpers, while there’s an adversarial relationship between Bridge Day jumpers and West Virginia State police.

BASE stands for building, antenna, span and Earth, the fixed objects from which jumpers leap with a parachute.

Some Jumpers Say They'll Skip Bridge Day Because of Scans

Some BASE jumpers plan to skip West Virginia’s Bridge Day festival next year because of a new security requirement.

The jumpers will have to undergo fingerprint scans, along with rappellers and vendors.

Alan Lewis of Tennessee is organizing a visit by jumpers to the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho, instead of Bridge Day. He told The Charleston Gazette that law enforcement in Twin Falls is more welcoming to BASE jumpers.

BASE stands for building, antenna, span and Earth, the fixed objects from which jumpers leap with parachutes. Bridge Day is the only time that BASE jumping is allowed from the New River Gorge Bridge.

Bridge Day Commission chair Sharon Cruikshank has said the scans are less intrusive than background checks, and the fingerprints won’t be saved.

Bridge Day Adds Fingerprint Requirement for Participants

Rappellers, BASE jumpers and vendors participating in future Bridge Day events will have to undergo fingerprint scans.

Bridge Day Commission chair Sharon Cruikshank tells The Charleston Gazette that the scans are less intrusive than routine background checks.

Fingerprints will be checked against a terrorism watch list. They won’t be saved.

So far, reaction to the decision has been mixed.

Cruikshank says rappellers and vendors don’t have any issues. But some in the BASE jumping community aren’t happy.

BASE jumpers from around the world flock to the New River Gorge Bridge on the third Saturday of every October for Bridge Day. BASE stands for building, antenna, span and Earth, the fixed objects from which jumpers leap.

Bridge Day organizers began requiring background checks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

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