Rappelling On Bridge Day

Hanging In There On Bridge Day

by Chad Ison

Publication Date: November 2000

Whenever you speak of Bridge Day, several things come to mind. Everyone knows that it is held on the third Saturday in October; it's located at the New River Bridge in West Virginia; and it's the only day of the year where it is legal for BASE jumpers to legally jump off of a fixed object in the United States. The only other thing that sometimes escapes the eye of the public is the rappellers. While everyone is on top of the bridge watching the jumpers make their death defying leap, or at the bottom watching them make their safe landing; twenty rappel teams are under the bridge executing their descent off the bridge's catwalk. The rappel teams are always a big part of the annual Bridge Day extravaganza.

Just like BASE jumpers, rappellers can't simply show up on Bridge Day and expect to be allowed to descend from the bridge on a rope. Teams are chosen by lottery drawing for 20 sites located along the bridge. The drawing is held at Passages To Adventure in Fayetteville, WV under the guidance of Benjy Simpson, the Rappel Coordinator. A total of 25 teams entered this year's drawing. Applications were sent out to the teams in April 2000, and the lottery was held in July. The final drawing narrowed the field to 20 teams. The final deadline for making changes to the team roster was September 30.

Each team rappelled from distances ranging from 700 to 850 feet, depending on their respective anchor spot off the catwalk beneath the 876 foot New River Gorge Bridge. The majority of the rappellers are either cavers, rescue personnel, rope instructors, or rappel club members. This year's participants hailed from 19 states and Canada.

Of the 264 rappellers registered, 221 were men and 42 women. 98 of them were first-time Bridge Day rappel participants. The youngest participant was 20 and the oldest was 72-year-old Jack Rice (this made his second year for rappelling off the bridge). Each team was required to have a group leader. They are responsible for the behavior of his or her team. If a team member does something that is inappropriate, the entire team will be asked to leave the catwalk.

The group leader is also the person responsible for communicating Bridge Day Rappel information to the members of their team. Group leader are also required to keep a record of the number of rappels and ascents for his/her team and its members. That information is then turned over to the rappel coordinator to receive their rappel certificates.

Each team was required to have its own radio system to talk to their respective anchor site, both ends of the bridge, and the person at the bottom of the rope. The security guards at both ends of the bridge also had radios to communicate with the catwalk, safety team, and with Benjy Simpson.

Several times I observed BASE jumpers opening their chutes and drifting back under the bridge. I wondered if there had ever been an incident where the BASE jumper collided with a rappeller. I was told by Bruce Smith, the Safety Officer, that this has happened in the past. Fortunately, no one was ever seriously injured. However all participants are instructed on what to do in case of this situation. "It depends on where you're at on the rope, if you're close to the ground and feel you can speed rappel safely to get out of their waythen do so," said Bruce. "But if you're mid air and see them coming, the best thing to do is lock-in and roll up into a ball." This minimizes the impact; and in case you're hit hard, by locking in, you won't fall if you pass out. Luckily the day went off without any such mishaps.

Rappel devices generate friction on the rope to help control the descent. Properly rigged, rappelling is not strenuous and the speed of your descent is easily controlled by one hand. One of the most debated topics in sport rappelling has been, "where does the heat go when the rappeller descends down the rope?" There are a number of formulas that suggest that as much as 90% of the heat goes into the rope. Others argue that water traps most of the heat. Still others say that the bars on the rappel rack gets most of the heat. But most will agree that for whatever reason, heat can damage a rope and make its life shorter.

William Shrewsbury conducted research on Bridge Day to hopefully publish a "safety curb" that may help make rappelling even safer. William and his team tested stainless bars (both U-shaped and tubular), regular and over-sized bars, with and without spacers between the first two bars. His team of rappellers were doing, slow, medium, and fast rappels (there have been reports from cavers that slow rappels actually "glaze" a rope as quickly as a fast rappel).

Four thermocouple probes registered the heat exchange on the top four bars on the rack during the descent. The data gathered will provide the following:

· total heat calories, over the length of the rope, that the bars actually absorb

· difference in heat dissipation between U and tubular bars

· what difference a spacer has on distributing the heat.

Benjy Simpson isn't afraid to admit the he's glad once Bridge Day is over. "Sometimes it actually gets to be a headache, "Simpson said. "I'm like everyone else when it's over - I'm a happy camper and I need to go have a glass of wine and relax." He recommends planning ahead for next year. "Right after Bridge Day, I start getting calls," he says. The deadline for turning in applications for the 2001 Bridge Day rappel (which is on Saturday, October 20) is July 12. The lottery drawing will be held on July 20. Those interested in participating in the Bridge Day rappel can contact: Benjy Simpson, Rappel Coordinator, 2001 Bridge Day Rappel, P.O. Box 71, Fayetteville, WV 25840; or by calling (304)574-1037, fax (304)574-1300.