New River Gorge Bridge is the largest extreme sports event and the largest gathering of BASE jumpers in the world, held on the third Saturday in October every year in Fayetteville, West Virginia, USA. 450 BASE jumpers, hundreds of rappellers, and up to 200,000 spectators are expected to attend this year's Bridge Day on Saturday, October 17, 2009. The New River Gorge Bridge, 876' tall and the world's second longest single arch bridge, is the launch point for at least six hours (9am-3pm EDT) of legal, safe BASE jumps.
Spectators are permitted to walk the length of the bridge and watch jumpers leap from the bridge railing, enjoy the fall foliage, or patronize hundreds of vendors who sell everything from handmade crafts to funnel cakes. For additional information on Bridge Day BASE jumping or to register for a jump slot, please visit
www.bridgeday.info. Bridge Day photos are available in our
Photo Gallery.
If you're planning on making your first BASE jump at Bridge Day, please read our
First Timers page to see if you qualify
(you'll need at least 100 prior parachute jumps). If you're happier with your feet on the ground, we have plenty of information for spectators as well. For answers to common questions, please read our
Frequently Asked Questions page.
The following are a set of guidelines that are STRONGLY recommended to help keep everyone safe at Bridge Day. This is not a joke, and should not be ignored! This information page is compiled by seasoned BASE jumpers. The jumpers that have contributed to this information have learned many things that will help those without experience to avoid going home in a cast.
- *Minimum 100 ram air parachute flights.
This recommendation is to ensure that everyone has the experience to land on a small rocky beach line in very erratic weather conditions. Almost every injury in BASE Jumping is due to landing. There are several exercises that you can perform while skydiving, to prepare you for BASE jumping.
- * 7-cell F1-11 canopy.
- This recommendation is in place because the nature of landing in congested areas. All 9-cell, experimental, high performance and Zero Porosity canopies are not advised for BASE Jumping under any circumstances! They have very touchy flight characteristics and have caused several very serious injuries in the past. When attempting any BASE Jump, a docile 7-cell F-111 canopy in good flying condition should be the only choice. By using this type of canopy, you give yourself a far better chance to land without getting hurt. For example, if you are flying a "Sabre 170" at Bridge day, it does not matter that you are intending to land in the water if something goes wrong. If you exit, then deploy, and have a canopy with line twists, you will be flying a very erratic pattern until you get out of the line twists. Then you may find yourself over the railroad tracks and the electrical power lines when you regain control of the canopy. Now you try to make some toggle inputs to avoid the power lines and not get electrocuted. By doing so, you are swinging at about 50 degrees in each direction of toggle input. Now the ground is "right there" while you were trying to turn to avoid the power lines. You find yourself moving twice the speed of the 7-cell you where suppose to use and at a 50 degree angle with the ground. You have no ability to PLF or make any attempt to land safely. So you take a full body impact with one railroad track and all the grapefruit sized rocks that surround the tracks. You will not walk away from such a landing. You may even be flown to the hospital because of this. This entire situation is avoidable by using the proper gear and packing techniques.
- * Protective Gear.
- BASE-Jumping landings are far more demanding than Skydiving. There can be any type of weather change from second to second. You may be forced to land in extremely constrictive areas that make for some hard landings. Hard helmets, knee pads, sturdy shoes, pants and long-sleeve shirts should be a minimum. Elbow pads, wrist guards, and ankle protection is also recommended. We also suggest the use of a Parachute Landing Fall (PLF) to help with these more demanding landings. The example given in the previous section could also benefit from such protective gear, especially ankle and head protection.
- * Packing Techniques.
- You should use an approved BASE Packing technique for BASE-Jumping from such a low bridge (876'). This is far different than a 3000'+ skydive. Your canopy must open quicker because of the low altitude and should open as on heading as possible.
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