Leap Of Faith – B.A.S.E Jumping the Perrine Bridge

The 2020 American summer was almost at it's end and despite being in the midst of a pandemic, I felt I racked up many achievements such as climbing all 58 of Colorado's 14,000ft peaks, over 15,000 road trip miles driven, and 20 National Parks visited. However, I wanted to close the entire summer out with a big bang and do something that was over the top, something different, something a little scary. So I received a recommendation from my friend Jeff, who is a professional world wakeboard champion and skydiver to join a course a mate of his runs in Twin Falls, Idaho to learn how to BASE jump.

Sean Chuma was the name of a legend and the man I was looking to get coached by. Chuma was not a big name in the BASE jumping community for nothing. He was the first person to reach 5000 BASE jumps and had around 6,700 jumps by the time I got around to meet him. These numbers make him the most experienced BASE jumper on earth. He holds several world records and is one of the most reputable people in the B.A.S.E community.

I was excited to be trained and looked after by the best. So I gave him a call on a Sunday morning and there was no answer. I left a voice mail, and then my phone rang 15 minutes later with his name on the caller ID. I introduced myself and we straight away got talking about the course and what was involved. The main pre-requisite he was looking for was 200 skydive jumps out of an airplane or extensive paragliding experience. I had almost close to 300 jumps at the time which was enough experience under a parachute to be in a comfortable position to get on board for his course. The main preparation he wanted from my end was to learn and practice how to pack a parachute several times until I got it down pat. I had three weeks to prepare and I knew that three weeks was going to go by fast.

I have packed parachutes up almost close to 300 times which is as many skydives I have racked up to date. However, packing a BASE parachute was different. It had to be packed carefully, meticulously, and precise. The reason for this is to ensure best opportunity for an on heading opening when the parachute comes out. If the canopy isn't packed with precision and symmetry then the inevitable 180 degree opening could have more chance on happening. What does this mean? It means if I jump of a vertical cliff and my parachute comes out straight, then I'm going to fly straight; away from the cliff. On the other hand, if my parachute opens up and spins me 180 degrees, now I'm flying toward the object that I jumped off, which in this example is the cliff. The intention is to jump off the object, and freefall then fly safely away from the object to avoid colliding with it which will result in injury and death.

A normal skydiving parachute takes 10 minutes to pack. A BASE parachute takes between 40-50 minutes. There are no shortcuts. Just full attention payed to the pack job to ensure the best and safest results.

I didn't have a parachute on me to practice, so Sean was awesome enough to lend me a spare one. Since I had planned on doing a road trip before my course, we agreed that we could meet at a drop zone in Salt Lake City and I would get the rig off him there.

I flew out to Albuquerque New Mexico, rented a car, then hit road northbound for the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the southern part of Colorado. I enjoy a nice road trip and will jump on almost any excuse to embark on one. The road system in the United States is unbelievable and probably the best in the world. I love taking advantage of it where I could.

Over the next two weeks, I drove through 17 National Parks in 8 States including Colorado, North and South Dakota, Utah, Arizona, Oregon, California, and Nevada. I had driven 7,000 miles and seen a lot of what America has to offer. It was almost middle of September and the summer was about to end, so it presented a sense of urgency to knock off some bucket list items while the country was dry particularly in the northern parts before the cold, snow and it’s associated storms start taking over, approaching the winter season.

While in Utah, I stopped by a dropzone west of SLC, in Toelle to grab the rig that Sean had left for me. There was exactly two weeks left before the start date and I got onto my first practice session right away. I went to the nearest park so I can practice on some soft grass. I watched Sean’s packing tutorial and followed it step by step. The first session is always the frustrating part. It’s slow and confusing. Progress is made very slow but with patience, time, and effort it starts slowly paying off. There was a lot of video pausing and rewinding just to make sure I get specific parts of the pack job done correctly. It wasn’t something I can "wing it", and I didn’t want to fall into any patterns of shortcuts especially if my life depended on a good pack job.

Closing into the last week before the course starts and I was getting nervous. My pack jobs were improving and I was getting them in whenever I can. There were some days I would practice two pack jobs and some days I can only squeeze in time for one. I would do all my hiking and mountain climbing by morning due to the temperatures being at their lowest. I would then drive to the next National Park or mountain on my to do list to position for it the next day, and would set aside one to two hours to get some practice in on the packing so I could keep the whole procedure current in my head. I was getting better and better and started loving the process of packing and that’s the moment I knew I had it down. It’s funny… at first you hate a thing because you aren’t proficient at it, and then when you become good at a thing you start loving it all of a sudden. After getting the packing down I would time myself to work on getting the pack job time down to about the 45 minute mark.

A day before my first BASE jump, I bought some last minute items for the course such as knee pads from Salt Lake City. It was the last thing on my to-do list before I hit the highway bound for Twin Falls, Idaho. The last time I had been in Idaho was last year when I was climbing Borah Peak which the states highest mountain. The forecast for the week was stunning - sunny and winds are light. While driving the three hour leg up Interstate 84, I started making phone calls to shop around for a good hotel for the week. I had no time to do it any earlier either because I was busy, or was out of range with phone signal particularly when I was driving across the Nevada desert. I managed to get hotels sorted and my mind relaxed a bit before the thought of jumping off the bridge came back in my head. The thought of it haunted me for the last week but the fact I didn’t pick up the phone and call Sean to tell him I’m bailing meant that I had faith in the whole process. I was going to be alright. I was trying to convince myself through inner dialogue that it was going to be fine. But then, there was this other voice that was pushing against the idea. The inner dialogue kept going backward and forward...

“It’s all good bro, you’ve parachuted almost 300 times"

“Yeah. But that was from 14,000ft! This bridge is 480ft!"

“Yeah but still, it’s just another jump. Just trust in the parachute system."

“Yeah, but your last jump was over a year ago. You’re out of currency"

“Yeah, I know but, umm… listen alright! I got this. Sean will help me"

“No he won’t. You barely know him. Look, you paid a lot of money, you are not ready, you can always be more prepared and current, and come back later."

“Nah, but I want to do it now. I’ve already paid the deposit and practiced packing the chute… got to commit to my words and act."

“Yeh but…"

“Shut up!"

I had to cancel all the noise in my head in order to focus. So much resistance that I had to fight off in the last week and it bugged me. I couldn’t tell if my gut instinct was holding me back or it was just the over-thinking dialogue. When I'm driving cross country there isn’t too much to do other than listen to pre-downloaded podcasts or think! Lots of thinking! What else is there to do when you’re driving all on your own? Who on earth would drive cross country to jump off a bridge? the hell? Am I feeling alright?

Arriving into Twin Falls in the evening, I parked up into a parking lot adjacent the Perrine bridge and got out of the car to have stroll. I walked onto the bridge and admired the view which included the remnants of daylight across the Snake River down below. I got to the middle of the bridge leaned my elbows on the railing and looked down. Then, I asked myself the important question: can you do it tomorrow? Can you imagine yourself standing in this very position on the other side of the railing ready to jump off this bridge? I got giddy. It was a nervous feeling – butterflies. Then I looked to my right and seen two base jumpers geared up walking my way to set up for a night jump. I watched both leap off individually and thought not much of it. Just two guys enjoying their freedom and living their dream. It was just like what I had seen on the videos so many times. Leap off, wait a second, pull, fly, and land.

I walked back to the car with an excited feeling in me. It had been over 1.5 years since my last skydive and that factor was what was also playing a role in my head. I wasn't recent under the parachute. But that's what made the mind games even better. I checked into the hotel and tried to get the best sleep I could. I couldn't pretend I wasn't going to do something that scared me tomorrow. With that thought, I tossed and turned all night.

The next morning I met Sean Chuma and the other 3 lads that were in the course in the Fairfield Inn. We sat down in a conference room and had a chat to get to know each other and the sport itself. There were 4 people in the course - Ray, Piya, and another Sean, and myself. All had different backgrounds of experience. Ray had more than 10,000 skydives, Piya also had 10,000 skydives as a skydive instructor and Sean had some skydiving experience mixed with paragliding experience. There was no doubt that all of them had more recency and experience than I did. However, we all shared something in common: we were all nervous.

After the chat we used the room to pack the parachute. I went well without any major issues. Chuma was just checking to see if everyone's pack job was proper and utilized the time to answer any questions or concerns. The practice I put in, especially in the last weeks leading up to the course really payed off. One less thing to worry about which meant I could allocate my focus on other tasks such as the jump itself.

Chuma briefed us on other parts of the jump such as the proper sequence to get over the bridge rail safely. Right leg over first, then the left one, by this stage you should be facing the road, then you twist 180 degrees to the right while leaning forward to give adequate room for the rig on our back to transition. If we twist 180 to the left instead, we give risk to our pilot chute (ripcord) to rub up against the railing which can snag and pull out of it's respective pouch. If that then falls and catches air, it can pull the pins holding the bag closed and the parachute may come out... a messy situation.

Then the proper stance: left hand holding on to the vertical part of the rail right behind our butts, which focuses on putting us in a symmetrical stance so we don't jump wonky. The right hand is held up at a forming a 90 degree angle – same way you'd put your hand up if you were swearing to tell the truth in front of a judge in court. This position was setting us up for an unstowed jump further down the line.

We went through some drills several times and simulated the entire exercise from climbing over the railing, the focal point, the jump, and what to do once under the canopy. Everyone had there fair share of tweaks and re-dos until we all got it right.

At midday we were out of the conference room and back in our cars driving toward the bridge. The drive was only 5 minutes. The entire town of Twin Falls is quite tight and everything is in close proximity to each other. Out onto the bridge we had a safety chat about the area. The bridge itself, proper technique to get over the railing and set up for the jump, also circuit pattern and landing area considerations that were determined by the current conditions. Then… after a few drills... it was time.

Our first jump was going to be a PCA (Pilot Chute Assist), where Chuma will assist us in pulling our parachute out while we jump. It is a fast method for a quick parachute deployment.

There were two Seans in the group. Instructor Sean and student Sean. Student Sean was keen to go first. He was pumped up and the most enthusiastic in the group. I watched and thought: “oh man here we go”. Right into it. I knew this moment was going to come fast. He did everything as per the drills and then went for it. We watched as he leaped, flew his parachute, and landed. No problem at all. After he touched down he was jumping around in joy; ecstatic.

Then Piya was second, we stood there with other jumpers who were spectating our first BASE jump. He ran the whole routine and survived, then… Sean looked over at the remaining two candidates: myself and Ray.

I suddenly put my hand up for third. I didn't even think about it. I just didn't want to be last to jump! It was a bad position to be in and the pressure could have been added to my already nervous situation. I got over the rail slowly, turned around to face the canyon, positioned my hands from the top of the railing to a position behind me. I looked down and noticed the shining specs reflecting off the river. Was I meant to look down? I didn't know what to feel. It had been exactly 600 days since my last skydive! I looked up at the horizon and held my position for a good few seconds to relax myself. I didn't have the bad feeling I might have expected which was to turn around and climb back to safety. I was going to go for it. I trusted in the parachute as I had done close to 300 times and trusted in Chuma's coaching.

I positioned, checked in with Chuma to make sure he was ready and then blue! All I seen was blue. The sky briefly and then as I felt the weight completely release off my feet, giving me the sensation of flying as I transitioned into a fall. I looked straight down to the water as I freefalled, which seemed to take forever, but was no more then 2 seconds until I felt a relief of pressure off my back and heard the parachute snap open sending an echo down the canyon. I looked up and it was a perfectly opened parachute. There was one slight problem though: I only had one shoe on. When the parachute opened up, it whipped my legs forward really fast which forced my left shoe off. My shoe got a longer freefall than I did and ended up in the river below me. I heard the awesome "OOOOOOHHHH" of the spectators up above watching me. I was under canopy and kept a simple circuit and landed with no problems. I couldn't stop smiling. The first jump was a big hurdle that I wanted to get over-and-done already. As I was gathering the parachute up on the ground I watched Ray jump who was the last of us. He was nervous and did well despite losing a toggle under canopy. He couldn't reach it so he used one toggle and one rear-riser to steer and land.

Chuma PCA’s my first jump.

After the jump, I went to look for my shoe. When Chuma jumped and landed he had a size 10 shoe in his pocket. Another jumper who was spectating on the bridge gave it to Chuma before he jumped so I can have another shoe to hike up the side of the canyon to get back to the top. Very considerate of them.

Luckily I didn't have to use it. There is a boat ramp adjacent the landing area and another jumper told me that he spotted my shoe still floating in the river. I went out on the ramp to have a look and it wasn't that far. We waved down a kayaker going past and they were more than happy to help retrieve it. Good news is I had my shoe back and didn't mind wearing it all soaked.

The height of the bridge above the river is 486 ft give or take. So that's the height we gained as we all scrambled up the path that lead back to the top. Another alternative if nobody wanted to hike is to catch the boat that takes you to this picnic area where we can repack the parachute. It costs $5 a ride. I was happy to scramble up since I had been in climbing mode all summer.

As I was climbing up, I reflected on the entire jump. It was memorable and an important jump to get out of the way which now helped me focus on the important things such as correcting body position and advancing to different types of jumps.

We mainly packed the chutes in front of the Twin Falls visitors centre which attracted many tourists in town. The majority of them have no idea that the bridge is used by BASE jumpers until they get there. So while we pack, they always come up to us almost every 15 minutes and ask the same questions – "so are you guys going to jump? From where? When?" "You guys are crazy". "I'll be happy just to stand and watch". "No way you'll catch me jumping off that thing." They were all friendly and we did our best despite answering the same questions repetitively throughout the day. Me and the boys would laugh and take turns answering the tourists questions so we could stay efficient with the pack jobs and also not burn out by talking.

I did another two jumps to wrap up day one. While some of the gents went on to unstowed jumps, I was comfortable doing the remaining two jumps as a PCA in order to improve my body position during the jump and get more confidence with jumping off the bridge itself. Chuma supported my decision and worked with me to improve.

Every time I walked out toward the middle of the bridge I was nervous. The nerves never went away. It was good though, it kept me grounded from trying anything stupid… Or should I rephrase: anything else stupid.

Jump two was a little better than the first one. Still, my body position was a little low. I had to raise my focal point, so on the third jump I made sure I aimed my focal point on a point 45 degrees above the horizon and not look down toward the river. It was a success with the body posture being exactly where it should be. It was a relief. After landing, I really felt it in my lower back; I put some good arch into it. It was good for my confidence to finish the day on that note and try to repeat the same for tomorrow's jumps.

Day 2 sunrise.

We all met at the bridge at 7:30am ready for day two. We geared up and made the nervous walk toward the exit point. It was crispy cold. The sun had risen and was sitting not far above the horizon as I looked directly into it about to leap off for jump four. This time I had the pilot chute in my right hand ready for my first unstowed jump. I checked in with Chuma, then 3-2-1 Cya. Solid body position off the edge, waited half a second and threw the chute out; as if I was throwing a dart at a dartboard. Canopy opened up in a sharp 90 degree right. I lost a bit of altitude in the process as corrected left with the rear risers then got onto the toggles. As I got closer to landing I knew there was going to be bad news. I was going to land into the bush. I had two options, either to go left or right – which bush would ya like mate? I knew the one on the right has a load of poison ivy and the left didn't look too bad. I put my knees together and feet together and came in fly-kicking the tree. I ended up alright with scratches on my legs. It took me a good five minutes to clear all the lines and canopy from the branches with some help of a jumper nearby. I was out and safe, and luckily me nor the canopy didn't touch any poison ivy.

Ready for an unstowed jump.

I went unstowed for the next two jumps. My last two jumps of the day were stowed. It was the part I looked forward to the most. It was exactly like a hop and pop with the exception that it was off a static object. First stowed I went for a one second delay in the freefall before pulling; the second one I held on and delayed for two seconds. It was an awesome way to end a day of jumping. 5 jumps in total, with 5 hikes up the side of the canyon to the packing area, with 5 pack jobs all in between. Fatigued, but so much achieved.

On day 3, I did stowed jumps for all 4 bettering my body position and just enjoying the entire process of jumping with some canopy drills before landing.

After jump 4 of the day, we decided to call the day due to strong headwinds above and down below in the landing area. We packed the chutes up ready for our final day tomorrow. Chuma used the time to show us some educational videos of what can go wrong in the sport of B.A.S.E and how we can avoid it by minimizing as much risk as possible. Chuma pointed out how important it is to understand the risks involved in the sport and to try and learn from the realities of what can and has happened, rather than take all the negative side of this sport and put it under a rug. The positives must be taken with the negatives just as equally. The positive being a fun and spiritual peace and love we find in the sport. The negatives to remind us of what can happen if we become complacent and irresponsible.

Many people do not know that the Perrine bridge is the only bridge in the United States that doesn't require a permit or fee to jump. Jumping is legal and free for whoever, whenever. That, and the fact the BASE jumping industry is unregulated, was one of the main reasons that attracted me to the sport. This bridge was in the midst of some awesome history. In 2017, Miles Daisher set a world record for leaping off the Perrine bridge 63 times in 24 hours - all under human power. It was a process of jumping, then climbing up the side of the canyon back to the top without any help form of mechanised assistance. He used the summer solstice to juice the most out of all the daylight he can get his hands on. The 63 jumps equated to a total of 30,618 feet of climbing, higher than Mount Everest being at it its respective 29,029 ft.

Miles Daisher climbing back up to the top – something I did after every jump.
© Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content Pool

Just over four decades before that, two miles east of the bridge is Evel Knievel’s ramp that was setup as he made his record attempt to rocket across the snake river 46 years ago, in 1974. His record attempt failed due to a parachute malfunction issue...

With that in mind I found myself on the first jump of day 4 standing on a ramp that was strapped down onto the bridge rail by Chuma. Not as long as Evel Knievel’s one, but just long enough to give us a new perspective of running off an object. It was a fun and different variation than the static jumping we’ve been doing the last three days. Ray and Peya had already jumped before me and it was my turn to do a little run up and rocket out over the snake river. Chuma filmed us leap, then got on top himself doing a full twist with two back somersaults before deploying and landing smoothly on the beach.

Ramp jump!

Second, was a PCA jump with rear riser drills, Chuma wanted us to practice some rear riser drills and also PCA one another so we can develop the right technique in setting up someone for a PCA jump.

Third was a TARD, which stands for Totally Awesome Rapid Deployment in which we have the parachute flaked out but leave it unfolded and out of the parachute container. We grip the top stow and swing the parachute with one hand out in front of us and step off the bridge to get underneath it. Eventually the whole chute pressurises and I get flying right away.

The fourth and last of the course was a two way with Chuma. It was my graduation jump. I went for a stowed jump and he went off with a TARD. We shared the sky together for a minute as we flew in formation till we landed. It was a brilliant way to end the course. 16 jumps in 4 days. Unbelievable.

I finally decided to take the boat ride to the landing area instead of hiking up the side of the canyon which I had done a total of 15 times in the last 4 days which was a nice 7,500 ft of total elevation gain. I earned my boat ride. The captain of the boat had me sign his boat canopy which was full of names from many hundreds of people that he had ferried around the canyon. It was almost impossible to find a spare space to write.

We got picked by car and finished the course back in the same room we all introduced each other on day one. We had a Classroom discussion to finish off the afternoon and wrap up the course. Sean Chuma covered some important points such as the what to do, and what not to do in the sport. He also spoke about wide range of topics from gear, being ambassadors and a good representations of the sport, showing ethics and respect to peoples property when seeking out locations to jump. Having the right mental model and attitude and not taking any shortcuts whatsoever.

What it taught me above all is one thing: no mistakes allowed. The discipline, responsibility, and good decision making all contribute to survival. A philosophy I believe everyone needs to adopt in life.

Me, Piya, Chuma, and Ray.

After a 3 hour talk we did our final pack job to finish off the course and then me and the boys went out for a dinner to celebrate a successful four days here in Twin Falls. We all sat at the dinner table still in awe of what we had achieved. It went by very quick and we didn't have too much time between days to take it all in. I let the guys know that I appreciated their positive energy and support throughout the course. We all got along really well. After dinner we parted ways.

Before leaving the town of Twin Falls, I had to drive back to the Perrine bridge one more time. This time the car park was empty. It was 9:30pm. It was the most quiet I had experienced it in the four days I’ve been around. Just the sound of cars passing by. The rails were shaking as usual as the cars transition over the 93 year old bridge. I walked up to the middle of the bridge and sat down, put my legs under the rail and let them dangle down off the edge – the very same spot I did most of my jumps from. I took it all in. From the first jump till graduation jump. Then suddenly there was a lull in the traffic. No wind, no sound of cars. Just the sight of the inky black river down below, that showed a reflection of the bridge, and my shadow.