Tourists and extreme sports enthusiasts from around the country traveled to the New River Gorge Saturday to participate in West Virginia's 32nd annual Bridge Day.
The Daily Anthenaeum...The festival is held each year on the third Saturday in October. Events include demonstrations of ascending, repelling and BASE jumping, an extreme sport in which participants free fall from fixed objects with packed parachutes. The acronym BASE stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans and Earth, which are the four most common objects from which BASE jumpers jump.
Bridge Day Highlights...
The New River Gorge averages between 700 and 1,300 feet deep, and the bridge is 876 feet tall. On the day of the event, all four lanes of traffic on the bridge are closed to motor vehicles.
AP...FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- The National Park Service is investigating a parachute accident that injured a Florida man during West Virginia's Bridge Day celebration.
Christopher Ryan Brewer, 27, of Pensacola, Fla., was among hundreds of BASE jumpers who parachuted from the New River Gorge Bridge during Saturday's annual festival. Emergency officials said Brewer's parachute didn't fully open and he plunged into the New River.
New River Gorge National River chief ranger Jeff West said Brewer suffered a pelvic fracture, lung injuries and a spine injury.
Brewer remains in stable condition at a Charleston hospital.
The National Park Service is investigating the incident.
The Register-Herald (http://bit.ly/oGkape) reports emergency responders estimate Brewer struck the water at a speed between 60 and 80 mph, and that his wingsuit, designed to allow a jumper to glide forward instead of falling straight down, may have helped slow his descent.
Christopher Ryan Brewer, 27, of Pensacola, Fla., was among hundreds of BASE jumpers who parachuted from the New River Gorge Bridge during Saturday's annual festival. Emergency officials said Brewer's parachute didn't fully open and he plunged into the New River.
New River Gorge National River chief ranger Jeff West said Brewer suffered a pelvic fracture, lung injuries and a spine injury.
Brewer remains in stable condition at a Charleston hospital.
The National Park Service is investigating the incident.
The Register-Herald (http://bit.ly/oGkape) reports emergency responders estimate Brewer struck the water at a speed between 60 and 80 mph, and that his wingsuit, designed to allow a jumper to glide forward instead of falling straight down, may have helped slow his descent.
Read more: Miami Herald
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