FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – As we gear up for Bridge Day, if base jumping isn’t your thing, you can experience the iconic New River Gorge in other ways.
Many are taking a breathtaking walk on the two-foot-wide, grated-steel catwalk that runs the length of the bridge.
It’s that time again, daredevils leaping to the edge of the bridge more than 800 feet into the New River Gorge below. Both rappelling and base jumping require skill, experience and equipment, but the public can get in on the action with the Bridge Day Highline. Sounds like a serious adrenaline rush.
“A little bit of anxiety. But I’ve also been on other bridges similar,” said Michigan resident Walter Brzezinski. “Out in Colorado I did the highest one and it was over a thousand feet up. So, if I can do that I figure I should be able to do this.”
It’s jam-packed — 18 different teams of 250 rappellers, on the catwalk and rappelling down to the bottom. Sixty-six people will be doing the Highline on Bridge Day.
“It’s like a controlled zip line off the side of the bridge,” said Bridge Walk Rappel & Highline Coordinator Benjy Simpson. “As you’re looking over the bridge, you can actually see those folks going down.”
Many reasons why people do this and how people feel about it abound. Rappelers going down their rope are secure, anchored and done all their safety checks. Then you’ll see a base jumper come down beside you.
“The rappelers think the base jumpers are crazy and the base jumpers think the rappelers are crazy for trusting a little rope,” Simpson said. “So I think it’s all what you grow up with and what you’re used to. But the folks doing the rappelling come from a wide background.
Some of them are cavers, some of them are safety rescue, some of them just enjoy it and have done it for years.”
According to the rappel & highline coordinator, the cool thing about this is you get to walk out on the (two-foot wide) catwalk, where there is a lot of exposure.
“A lot of times when you’re doing zip lines the spot where you’re starting from, you don’t have that exposure. This one you’re walking out to where you’re three, 400 feet above the ground and then having to climb over a railing — all secured, of course; hook in and then step off,” said Simpson. “So there is a lot of exposure right there.”
There are stipulations whether you rappel or highline. You have done long rappels in the past, you’re part of a team and the team leader must sign off that you have the required skills. And they have a dedicated safety team that inspects every person who gets hooked up.
“You cannot just say, ‘I bought this, I’m gonna go ahead and do it,’ it’s not safe. While you’re rappeling, you have to make changes and things. You have to know how the equipment works,” Simpson said.
Ziplines, high lines… the general population can get its feet wet (and) see if you like it. If you enjoy those extreme heights, Simpson says you can try other things.
“Like rappelling, like base jumping that you could do and you just need to plan ahead,” said the rappel & highline coordinator. “I get a lot of calls leading up to Bridge Day, ‘I want to rappel.’ Great, here’s what you need to do and here are the steps. Get on a team, and then we’ll see you next year.”
This New Yorker says he hasn’t done anything like this besides rock climbing.
“Heights and things like that don’t bother me,” said Oneonta resident Gary Brackett. “Just have to go with the flow and enjoy it. Enjoy the views.”
