Idaho alternative to WV’s Bridge Day is in jeopardy:

[Panich52]

Charleston Gazette

Alternative to WV’s Bridge Day is in jeopardy

An Idaho event scheduled as an alternative to West Virginia’s Bridge Day later this fall is in doubt, after a series of BASE jumping accidents there and elsewhere last month left three people dead.

Some residents of Twin Falls, Idaho, have asked BASE jumpers to cancel the Idaho event, called “The Other Bridge Day.” It was scheduled after organizers of the original Bridge Day, in Fayette County, announced that jumpers, rappellers and vendors would have to go through a new security system and be checked against a terrorism watch list.

BASE stands for Building, Antenna, Span and Earth, the four types of fixed points jumpers leap from with parachutes. About 450 of them typically turn out to jump off the New River Gorge Bridge every third Saturday in October for Bridge Day, the largest one-day festival in West Virginia.

After the new Bridge Day security measures were announced, some jumpers began planning The Other Bridge Day, a loosely organized event at the Perrine Bridge, in Idaho. By the time the Bridge Day Commission in West Virginia decided to allow participants who don’t want their fingers scanned to pay for background checks using a third-party company, already more than 600 people had indicated on Facebook that they would attend The Other Bridge Day.

Then, on May 7, a 73-year-old California man died while jumping from the Perrine Bridge, after setting his parachute on fire, according to the The Twin Falls Times-News. The newspaper said James Hickey had planned to disconnect the parachute and open a second chute, but instead a fireball erupted and he fell 500 feet to his death.

More
http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150607/GZ01/150609424/1453

[IDemo]

1. It's past time to shut down the Perrine Bridge to this insanity

In addition to the deaths, we've recently seen two broken backs as a result from the same jump.

BASE jump accident ends with two broken backs

Two BASE jumpers learnt exactly why their pastime is known as an ‘extreme’ sport recently, after a mistake resulted in them both breaking their backs.

Friends caught the horrifying moment Austin Carey, 23, and Jay Rawe, 25 fell 500 feet after their stunt went awry and their parachutes entangled.

They were attempting to perform the ‘totem pole waterfall’ trick from the Perrine Bridge in Idaho when Jay lost his balance, resulting in the near-fatal accident.

Both men were immediately rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery to fuse their spinal columns back in place using titanium plates.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/04/14/base-jump-accident-ends-with-two-broken-backs-5149423/