Tag: Bridge Day

Thrillseekers to Participate in West Virginia's Bridge Day

Thrillseekers from across the globe are converging on Fayetteville for the annual Bridge Day festival.

Saturday’s event is the one day a year that it’s legal to jump off the 876-foot high span across the New River Gorge.

Hundreds of BASE jumpers are registered to do just that. The acronym BASE stands for the places from which jumpers usually leap: buildings, antennae, spans and earth.

More than 80,000 people are expected to walk across the bridge. Rappellers also will make their way from a catwalk under the bridge to the water below, and some participants will make a controlled descent on a tethered cable from the catwalk.

The New River Gorge Bridge, the third-highest bridge in the United States, opened in 1977. Bridge Day started three years later.

Bridge Day Panel Gives Jumpers Option to Fingerprint Scans

Bridge Day organizers have approved an optional security measure to address privacy concerns about fingerprint scans.

The Bridge Day Commission plans to require BASE jumpers, rappellers and vendors to submit to the scans. The fingerprints will be checked against a terrorism watch list.

The Register-Herald reports that the commission on Wednesday added the option of a paid background check. The fingerprint scans will be free.

Commission chairwoman Sharon Cruikshanks says background checks would be conducted by a third-party security company.

Bridge Day is the only time that BASE jumping is allowed from the New River Gorge Bridge. Some jumpers have said they will skip this year’s event because of the fingerprint scans.

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

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.

Bridge Day Organizers to Rethink Security Plan

Bridge Day organizers are re-evaluating a new security plan following protests by BASE jumpers.

The Bridge Day Commission has proposed requiring jumpers, rappellers and vendors to submit to fingerprint scans. The fingerprints would be checked against a terrorism watch list.

Some jumpers say they will skip Bridge Day this year because of the requirement. The jumpers cite privacy concerns.

Commission chair Sharon Cruikshank tells media outlets that the panel didn’t expect these concerns. She says the commission has begun an evaluation period and is accepting public comment.

Bridge Day is held on the third Saturday in October. It’s the only time that BASE jumping is allowed from the New River Gorge Bridge.

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

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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