This was off the letchworth bridge? If so sic, and can’t wait to see pics! If not, still sic and can’t wait to see pics!
No no… we just set up a swing in eden, lol
newman i saw jakes pics last nite at bubbletea… there are a few real good ones. he said he will post them up today or tomorrow, but in the mean time feel free to post up the videos i put on youtube.
i doubt we will ever see ians pics lulz
Here are two of me that I rotated:
Head first dive off:
This was our first bridge jump mishap to date… The rope got snagged on a bolt that all day I had been warning people to make sure it was clear of. That’s why the freefall and swing radius are so small… Not super dangerous, more annoying than anything. Tieing off at the back and base jumping is AWESOME tho…
Looks like such a rush…I love it.
Just a question… what ropes are you guys using for this?
Normal Rappelling/climbing ropes aren’t rated for drops like that, and in fact state if a fall occurs the rope maybe compromised and should be replaced. I just don’t want anyone taking a dive and the rope snapping… Don’t want to hear about you guys on the news cuz the rope snapped.
It’s dynamic rope, so it stretches. It’s rough on the ropes for sure, but there is a double redundant safety backup, one of which isn’t even loaded under normal conditions. Also, the loading of the ropes that we do is actually probably much less than taking a long lead fall, because the load is applied a lot faster, because there is no swing.
Gotcha! Just don’t want to see one of you guys plummet.
2 pics from Sunday:
You said you couldn’t go on Sunday!
Oh poop. I thought you went saturday. lol
Pretty crazy. I like it.
More pics from sunday:
Nice shots.
Any night missions?
This one cracks me up. Looks like fun shit! Badass pics too…nice shots whoever took em. 
when is the opening date of the new 219? Gotta be coming soon, no?
It has to be coming soon… I can’t do it this weekend, though…
there will be a night mission soon enough…
Oh yeah, and since so many people ask how this is set up:
Top rigging
There are 3 main ropes involved.
#1 is 7/16 static line, connected to the to the very top-center of the bridge. This rope is attached to the bridge with (2) 22 KN webbing slings, usually wrapped around railroad ties or other structural members. I try to stay away from girth hitches here and just loop the webbing. These connect to a figure 8 (backed up with double overhand) via two opposite and opposed locking biners. This rope should barely touch the ground.
#2 & #3 are 10-11mm dynamic line. The are affixed to the bottommost portion of the center of the bridge. Typically this rope is attached to the bridge with a pair of slings that are girth hitched around a girder. I am not a huge fan of girth hitches because of the strength lost in the knot, but it also prevents the slings from sliding around on the bridge during the swing. Again, opposite and opposed locking biners are used to connect to figure eight knots in the dynamic line. A second set of slings backs up the dynamic line, though these typically are left slightly loose and not engaged. Rope protectors are used over all places where the sling contacts the bridge. The dynamic rope is left about 30feet off the ground to ensure that even if tied into the very end of the rope, the swinger still will be off the ground. At the very end of the dynamic rope a piece of cordellete holds the 2 lengths of dynamic rope to the static rope.
Jumper rigging
A pull up rope is dropped from the opposite side of the bridge, and connected to the end of the static rope. It’s hauled up to the top of the bridge and brings the dynamic rope with it (hence the cordellete…). A safe length of dynamic rope is chosen (always tested by throwing a gear bag) and a figure 8 is tied in each. These clip directly to the harness via a heavy locking biner. The static rope is intentionally left about 5 feet longer than the dynamic (simply a safety backup) and connected to the harness via a gri-gri. A 3 foot rope sleeve holds all the ropes together. The extra static and dynamic line are wound up and clipped onto the jumper’s harness.
Jumping
The jumper walks away from the center of the bridge until the rope (now stretched under the bridge) becomes semi-taut. The degree and harshness of the freefall can be controlled a bit by varying tautness. Then you jump - typically trying to jump out as far as you can, though it’s not necessary. You fall a ways until the rope engages and sends you into a glorious, fast arcing swing. Ideally on a basic front-tied jump you want to include a slight twist to the jump so that you’re facing the pivot once the rope begins to pull, however a head first dive with a slight inversion will yield similar results.
Descending
Once the swinging has somewhat stopped the climber disconnects the extra rope loops from his harness. (the dynamic rope remains looped, the static line is untied and dropped to the ground) The jumper is hanging on the dynamic line, so the slacked static line is pulled through the gri-gri until taut. The rope sleeve is removed or slid up the rope and an ascender (with footloop) is clipped onto the static line. The jumper then ascends the static line until the dynamic line becomes un-weighted, allowing it to be unclipped from the harness… The last thing to do before rappelling down to the ground is to use the cordellete to once again attach the dynamic rope to the static. If the water below the bridge is deep, a line is tossed to shore and the jumper is swung to shore.