
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 15, 1993                   TAG: 9404210008
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Wendi Gibson Richert
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

A BRIDGE TOO FAR (NOT!)

Bring together the world's longest single-arch steel bridge, a town of fewer than 2,000 folks, a Saturday on the peak weekend for the fall foliage and about 300 thrill-seeking daredevils, and you get Bridge Day.

For 13 years, hundreds of thousands of spectators from all over the world have come to Fayetteville, W.Va., to stroll across the New River Gorge bridge - a 3,030-foot long expanse connecting two mountains 876 feet above the New River. They come to eyeball the 300 or so BASE parachute jumpers who hurl themselves off the bridge. (BASE stands for ``buildings, antennas, spans and earth forms,'' all of which are fair game for the daring leapers.)

Bridge Day is the only day pedestrians can use the bridge, says Cindy Whitlock of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce. And, it's ``like an annual convention'' for the bridge jumpers, who pay around 30 bucks for the thrill of the 7-second drop.

The only one of its kind in the country, Bridge Day has been named one of the top 100 events in North America by the American Bus Association. It's so popular, in fact, that if you're planning to go Saturday, you'll have to drive the three hours from Roanoke that morning. At last check, there weren't rooms even two hours away.

Your drive will be worth it. The jumpers are already registered, so you won't get to jump (darn), but you can get some great souvenirs, food and camera shots. And you must buy yourself an ``I've walked across the world's longest steel arch bridge'' T-shirt. Not everybody can boast that.

by CNB