Fayetteville (United States): Hundreds of base jumpers made a 876-foot plunge off a West Virginia bridge to celebrate the 30th year of the New River Gorge Bridge Day Festival. The bridge in Fayetteville is the second longest single arch bridge in the world. As it's one of the few legal BASE jumps , many extreme sports enthusiasts turned out to watch the eight-point-eight second parachute drop above the rapids of the New River.
BASE (Building, Antenna, Span, Earth) jumping is from fixed objects and Bridge Day has become one of the world's largest extreme sports events. Bridge traffic was open to pedestrians only and more than 80-thousand people were expected to walk across the span.
When asked why does somebody in their right frame of mind want to jump off of a perfectly good bridge, a participant answered, "I don't think any of us are in the right frame of mind! That's what we do (laughing)! It's a great experience, it's fun, it's probably the greatest adrenaline rush you' ll ever get. It's great! And it's my birthday present (showing) for tomorrow."
Participants took help in wearing the safety gears like parachutes which opened in mid-air as they jumped off the bridge and hovered over the water.
Other exhilarated participants said, "It's relaxation. You have to come to terms with what you're gonna do, and that last second, all the thrill, the adrenaline's gone, its' just peace, and you take that step off."
The participant who spoke to the reporters said, "Three years now (I have been doing this every year."
Another said, "I'm a newbie, I haven't been doing it long."
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