BASE Jumper Survives 876 Foot Fall: Would You Ever Try It?

Christopher Brewer is lucky to be alive.

The 27-year-old jumped from the 876-foot New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette, West Virginia, on Saturday in celebration of the city's 32nd annual Bridge Day -- the only day of the year people are allowed to BASE jump from the bridge. Normally, BASE jumpers deploy their parachutes before they hit the water. To everyone's horror, Brewer's parachute didn't open all the way.

Officials say Brewer's body was going 60 to 80 miles per hour, way too fast for comfort, but slower than he would have been going if he had not been wearing a wingsuit. The Florida native was immediately airlifted to Charleston Area Medical Center. The West Virginia Register-Herald reports he suffered a pelvic fracture, lung damage, and a spinal injury. As of Tuesday, reports claim he is in critical but stable condition.

BASE jumping is easily described by its acronym: Building-Antenna-Span-Earth. ("Span" refers to bridges; "earth" refers to cliffs.) The activity has become increasingly popular among adrenaline junkies ever since filmmaker Carl Boenish filmed some of the earliest examples of contemporary BASE jumping in 1978.

The MacArthur Advertiser warns that BASE jumpers have fallen to their deaths from heights much lower than the New River Gorge Bridge. Just this January, a 27-year-old man died BASE jumping from a 100 meter (330 foot) phone tower in Australia. Last September a 42-year-old woman plunged 451 feet to her death from the Alor Setar Tower in Malaysia.