Expanding Bridge Day - Newspaper Articles
Competition leads to discussion of possible multiple Bridge Days By Steve Keenan/For The Register-Herald
FAYETTEVILLE - Jason Bell might be seeking Dr. Evil's advice, because he'd like to see a bunch of mini-Bridge Days.
Bell, whose company, Vertical Visions, coordinates BASE jumping activities, joined rappel coordinator Benjy Simpson and Jon Dragan, who helps direct the water rescues, to present their final Bridge Day 2004 numbers to members of the Bridge Day Commission at a follow-up meeting Monday.
While delivering those final reports and taking the initial steps in beginning next year's planning, Bell took the opportunity to discuss the possibility of conducting BASE jumping activities from the New River Gorge Bridge on days other than the third Saturday in October.
He and co-worker Bill Bird pointed to locations such as Twin Falls, Idaho, where BASE jumping is legal year-round and has grown into a cottage industry for that area.
"There is some competition out there for Bridge Day," said Bird, passing out a flyer that had promoted a legal three-day BASE event - with competition - the week before Bridge Day off the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado. "This may have affected our attendance."
Bell said it has also impacted his employment roster somewhat. "We've lost some staff members to that event."
Bell hopes to submit a plan by year's end that calls for "pushing to expand (local BASE jumping possibilities) ... to more than six hours a year."
He's not suggesting closing the bridge down totally. Instead, he wants BASE jumpers to have access to the catwalk.
In Idaho, jumpers leap every day of the year from a walkway on top of the 486-foot high Perrine Bridge, the Bridgeport resident pointed out.
"At first in the late 1990s, (community leaders) didn't know how to respond to us," Bell said of the jumping community. "Then they saw the dollar signs, and now the local Chamber of Commerce is promoting us.
"They are embracing jumpers and the tourists who come to watch them."
The same could be said for the New River Gorge National River area, he said, if his proposal is accepted.
"We don't want to change Bridge Day at all, but this would benefit jumpers, the community and the state of West Virginia," Bell said, adding the status of BASE jumping in this area now could be likened to whitewater rafting in its infancy.
"And look how rafting has come up through the ages," he said.
Saturday's nasty weather limited 390 BASE jumpers to a total of 645 jumps. "Under the circumstances, that was pretty amazing," Bell said.
Four jumpers were transported from the landing zone via ambulance. Only one of those jumpers received any type of serious injury - a broken foot and some broken toes.
"Overall, it was a very safe Bridge Day for BASE jumpers," Bell said.
Simpson, whose firm, Passages to Adventures, annually coordinates the rappellers, said he had over 90 individuals take part in the high line this year, and 267 rappellers made a total of 423 rappels.
"There were no injuries, although there was one near-miss," he said. One rappeller, according to Simpson, "inverted but did not go unconscious."
"It looked a lot worse than it was," he stressed.
A storm that swept through the area at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday halted BASE jumping and rappelling activities for about 30 minutes, but rappelling did not resume when the weather improved, Simpson said.
"I counted seven weather changes; it was an interesting day," he added.
"The storm changed quite a few things for us, but we had a blast," Bell chimed in.
Sharon Cruikshank of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and New River CVB, which team up to coordinate Bridge Day, said the weather was obviously a factor.
"We had the Taste of Bridge Day (Friday) where you could sample all the restaurants' food, then you got to sample all of the (weather) elements Saturday: from sunny to drizzle to rain to hail to snow," she said. "But even drenched to the skin, everybody seemed to be in good humor."
Dragan reported 130 water rescues, many near the middle of the New River.
"That's really getting up there," he said.
Some 150 of the 195 registered vendors showed up to display a variety of wares.
"The ones that were there seemed happy," Cruikshank said.
Despite the iffy weather, an estimated crowd of 75,000 still took part in the festivities.
Another Editorial
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Extra BASE jumping days proposal merits further study
Jason Bell of Vertical Visions, who annually coordinates BASE jumping activities at Bridge Day, made a proposition to the Bridge Day Commission Monday that bears some study.
On first blush, Bell's idea of conducting BASE jumping activities from the New River Gorge Bridge on days other than the third Saturday in October sounds a little nuts. After all, the sheer logistics of allowing BASE jumping from the bridge even one day a year is a gargantuan task.
Listening a little longer to Bell's idea, however, leads one to believe it has possibility.
He's not suggesting closing the bridge down totally, he told the commission. Instead, he wants BASE jumpers to have access to the catwalk.
Bell and co-worker Bill Bird pointed to locations such as Twin Falls, Idaho, where BASE jumping is legal year-round and has grown into a cottage industry for that area.
"There is some competition out there for Bridge Day," Bird said, passing out a flier that had promoted a legal three-day BASE event - with competition - the week before Bridge Day off the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado. "This may have affected our attendance."
Bell believes expanding BASE jumping to other days could economically benefit the area.
"At first in the late 1990s, (community leaders in Idaho) didn't know how to respond to us," Bell said of the jumping community. "Then they saw the dollar signs, and now the local chamber of commerce is promoting us.
"They are embracing jumpers and the tourists who come to watch them."
The same could be said for the New River Gorge National River area, he told the BDC, if his proposal is accepted.
"We don't want to change Bridge Day at all, but this would benefit jumpers, the community and the state of West Virginia," Bell said, adding the status of BASE jumping in this area now could be likened to whitewater rafting in its infancy.
"And look how rafting has come up through the ages," he said.
Bell's idea is one which merits study, but gaining approval from all the different entities involved in allowing such a move is a process that will take a while.
Matt Darpli of Oak Hill and Colorado owns Bridge Climb USA, a company which - after a few years of work - still is in the process of getting a project finalized to offer guided tours of the bridge's catwalk.
Sharon Cruikshank, director of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and New River CVB and a member of the Bridge Day Commission, said Darpli has put a lot of work and study into his proposal and that Bell's proposal could be an economic boon, but it will require a lot of legwork on his part.
"I could see where it would be good for business, but there has been no plan submitted. We need to look at a proposal before we can do anything."
Bell said he hopes to have a plan ready to submit by year's end that calls for expanding local BASE jumping possibilities.
It's worth a look, and a second and even third look. Tourism has become a major player in the economy of southern West Virginia, and such a proposal - if it proves sound - could grow into another successful cog in the industry.
or something really goofy... which shouldnt be to hard