BASE Jumping for Joy

I’ve never really understood the fascination with skydiving. You jump out of a perfectly good plane, plummet several thousand feet, use a bed sheet attached to a knapsack on your back with pieces of string and hope that it slows your fall.

In the words of Commander Spock, “This is highly illogical.”

BASE jumping is even more confounding. (For the uneducated, BASE stands for buildings, antennas, spans and earth.)

But so is the attraction to the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, ID. It is the only bridge in the United States where it is legal to BASE Jump 365 days out of the year without a permit.

For the unprepared, it can be a tire screeching shock as you drive across the bridge and see someone leap over the side of the bridge. Even if you’ve driven across it before, it can still be a little unnerving.

It’s not usual to pull into the visitors center as you enter Twin Falls on Highway 93 and see a group of jumpers packing their chutes on the lawn. They have their canopies spread out as they meticulously unravel and unfold. Then they will straighten, fold, wrap and secure the one thing that will bring them back to this very spot to do it all over again. And they do this all under the watchful eyes and curious questions from busloads of tourists. All wanting to know when they’re going to jump again.

But now there is a new twist, Tandem BASE Jumping.

Just like tandem skydiving, TandemBASE in Twins Falls offers novice jumpers the chance to experience the thrill of jumping off a perfectly good bridge. The first time BASE jumper is strapped to an instructor and takes a leap of faith from a perch 486’ above the Snake River. Roughly a minute or two later, they land in the LZ on the canyon floor. And if they’re aim is dead on, they hit the bullseye painted on the ground below.

For me, I prefer to keep my feet on the ground and just watch. At least for now. Who knows what my next trip to Twin Falls will bring?