Blue skies, great weather enjoyed at Bridge Day's return

Oct. 17—The return of Bridge Day™ Saturday was a smashing hit which played out under blue skies on a brilliant fall day, according to reports from many corners.

That included veteran participants affiliated with numerous facets of the state's largest one-day event, and at least one couple that hadn't the foggiest notion what Bridge Day was before the weekend.

Becky Sullivan, executive director of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce/New River Gorge CVB and the chair of the supervising Bridge Day Commission, was ecstatic as vendors shut down at 3 p.m. Saturday and clean-up began to prepare U.S. Rte. 19 to fully reopen to vehicular traffic by about 5 p.m. The first Bridge Day staged in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve was a sight to behold, she said.

"I think today was beautiful weather, wonderful crowd, no major catastrophes that I know of, so I think overall we had a very successful and safe and amazing Bridge Day," Sullivan said.

Speaking to an event volunteer, she said, "(This is) our biggest event and we did it. We pulled it off."

Sullivan said shortly after the event she had no official crowd estimate (that will come from law enforcement and bus transportation representatives), but she had heard numbers ranging from 100,000 to 150,000.

"We could not have asked for any better weather," Sullivan continued. "I started watching the weather report last week and it was 61 was the high and, you know, we start out at 5 o'clock in the morning and I thought we were going to start out at 30 degrees. But it was 45 this morning when we started, and it warmed up to about 70 now, so the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

"We had a record number of vendors (and Into the Gorge tickets sold out). Our shuttles and buses ran pretty seamlessly, and I think everything went well."

She also praised many that helped make the event a success. "We have an amazing staff of volunteers. We could not do Bridge Day without volunteers. Bridge Day is a community-supported event."

Cindy Govekar and her husband, Gary, of Johnsburg, Illinois, were the couple that unsuspectingly stumbled onto West Virginia's big party Saturday. "It's our first time in West Virginia," she said after coming back off the bridge Saturday afternoon. "We left (home) three days ago, and we didn't have a destination in mind. My husband always said one of the places someday he'd like to go is West Virginia.

"So north of Indianapolis, which is a couple hours away from where we live, he said, 'Have you made a decision yet about where we're going to go?' and I said, 'Yeah, let's go to West Virginia,' so we're going to go east on 70 and drive out there and as I'm looking at the map — old-school map — on my lap, I said, 'Gosh, there's a lot of beautiful parks.'" "I was looking at all the green spaces and I said, 'Oh, my gosh there's a gorge bridge out there and, of course, we've never been in West Virginia and I don't know if you keep it a secret because this is truly, I think it is heaven, way closer to heaven than just Almost Heaven.

"We ended up deciding (to go to the bridge) and when we Googled it here and yesterday stopped at Tamarack and the woman there said, 'Oh you're here for Bridge Day,' and I was like, 'Well, we're going to go the bridge,' and she said, 'So you're not here for the event?' We had no idea, and we were like 'Well, we're just going to drive over the bridge tomorrow.' Lo and behold, we could never have imagined; this is amazing and then after that, of course, we had to find out more information about it and then we have proceeded to enjoy this entire experience and the hospitality, and I didn't even know that there was this many people anywhere near West Virginia. This is just amazing."

The Govekars went out on the New River Gorge Bridge to the BASE jumper exit point Saturday. "I have vertigo, so I was really kind of nervous of the idea of going all the way out there and as soon as I touched the side of the bridge, I was like 'Oh, this is going to be fine," she explained.

While watching the jumpers, she said, "I felt as exhilarated as maybe some of them who were jumping just by watching them. Awesome. So awesome."

Now that they are aware of the bridge and the event, the Govekars plan on returning. Not only will they aim to come back in 2023, but she said, "We have a huge family in Illinois. We have 10 kids and 11 grandkids. We sent so much video to them of just the state of West Virginia and the bridge, and they all travel and I don't think one of them has been to West Virginia. ... This is like a whole new territory that we're so happy we found. It's incredible and we'll definitely come back."

Before they finish their visit to Southern West Virginia, they are considering coming back to Fayette County to drive over the bridge and go down under and see the bridge from Fayette Station, she said.

"I would say having zero knowledge of there being such a magnificent bridge this side of anywhere," she said in summing up the totality of their visit. "To me, it's like a gem to even find a bridge of that magnificence, and also the sense of wonder I have about the craftsmanship that went into it, the actual human stamina it took to even erect something like that. It blows my mind."

----Members of 22 Jumps, a public charity which uses BASE jumping with a goal of reducing Veteran suicides, BASE jumped throughout the day, as well as having an informational booth.

Tristan Wimmer, 22 Jumps founder and CEO, made the first BASE jump from the bridge Saturday in a two-way jump along with the COO of 22 Jumps, Adam Ghannoum.

"The jump went incredibly well," said Wimmer. "The conditions up top were very windy, but we could see that conditions were much calmer down in the gorge. I was very confident that the jump would go well, but the variable wind conditions plus the heightened importance of this year's opening jump forced me to really focus on a jump I would otherwise consider a gimme.

"In the days leading up to the event, I could feel the gravity of doing the opening jump grow stronger: opening jump for the first Bridge Day since the pandemic; first BASE jump into a national park in 42 years; first national media coverage of a 22 Jumps event. Any one of those who have given that jump an extra feeling of importance. All three of those together meant there was no way I could allow the opening jump at Bridge Day 2022 to be anything but perfect."

According to Wimmer, the organization met its fundraising goal of $22,000 two days before Bridge Day. "Donations typically roll in for a week after the event, but we're currently up to $26,000," he said via email Monday.

The 22 Jumps team completed over 30 jumps on the day.

"It was a privilege to bring 22 Jumps to Bridge Day and an honor to be given the opening jump," said Wimmer. "Very much looking forward to coming back next year."

----First-time Bridge Day BASE jumper Nate Hilzendeger, of Pittsburgh, said around noon Saturday he was relishing his first visit to the event. Hilzendeger is a veteran of about 550 sky dives and 40 BASE jumps, and he was happy to add the New River Gorge Bridge to his list.

His first jump during the morning was "amazing," he said. "I took a 4 1/2-second delay, and I landed in the water. It was pretty cold.

"It was super fun. The staff on the boats were incredible. Props to them. The event seems really well put together."

The "beautiful" day was turning out well weather-wise, Hilzendeger said. "A little chilly and windy this morning, but it's sunny and the wind's pretty calm right now and that's awesome."

As he got ready to do his first Bridge Day jump, he recalled thinking, "It's finally happening. I was anticipating it a lot, so I was glad to finally get it out of the way."

Hilzendeger, who traveled to West Virginia with a group of six or eight skydiving friends from Pittsburgh, planned to make at least one more jump later Saturday. He's also looking forward to returning in 2023.

Rappeler Michael Hinckley, of Gainesville, Georgia, was returning to rappel from the bridge catwalk for the second time after first participating in 2018. "It's always a lot of fun, so I'm glad to be back," he said.

The day itself made his taking part more pleasant, Hinckley said. "Trees are changing colors," he said. "It's beautiful. It couldn't be better weather."

He planned to perform as many descents as possible to the canyon floor below the bridge. "I don't really have a specific number of rappels to complete. I'll just go 'til we're done. It depends on the group and how quick we go."

"It's a lot of fun," he added. "Lot of people on the bridge today. It is covered with people. Yeah, it's a lot of fun."

Another first-time Bridge Day BASE jumper, Missouri's Mike Eckstein, was pumped up after the day concluded. "I got three jumps in today," he explained. "I did the rastapult, I did the scissor lift and then I had one off the regular platform."

The rastapult was "lots of fun," Eckstein said. "I got a triple backflip off of it and a smooth landing. And then the first jump was really awesome, too, just a little gainer. And then off the scissor lift I did a front flip, so a little bit of fun off all of them."

About Bridge Day itself, he said, "I think it's super awesome, a great time, lots of fun. It's super sick that they have so much safety here because usually BASE jumping doesn't have that much safety. It's super awesome to see everyone come out and help out the community and be here to support us." The day went "pretty smooth" for him. "I was about 5 feet off the target every time."

Notes:

—Dragan Diversified's Tom Dragan, a member of the river rescue team, called it "one of the top 10 Bridge Days in my mind." "The weather makes all the difference in the world," Dragan continued. The day was "warm enough that people didn't mind getting wet."

DDI picked up 95 people on the river on the day, he noted. There were "no real problems on the water. Things went smooth," Dragan said. "Thanks to everybody who made it happen."

—Festival attendees were able to partake in numerous activities in Saturday's event, and vendors offered a variety of goods to purchase.

—Camp Royal, an action sport summer camp and training facility, offered a well-received biking and scooter jump activity/demonstration Saturday.

—Members of the U.S. Navy Leap Frogs jumped out of an airplane on top, and the U.S. Army Golden Knights BASE jumped off the bridge.

—About 375 BASE jumpers were registered, including staff.

—Mister Bee Potato Chips, of Parkersburg, unveiled a New River Gorge-themed potato chip bag design during a Saturday morning ceremony. The chips will be available soon in local retail outlets.

Among those at the unveiling were representatives from Mister Bee, New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, WV Hive and Fayette County Chamber/New River Gorge CVB.

In addition to the new partnership announcement, WV Hive business clients who participated in the recent southern West Virginia business idea pitch competition were also celebrated at the WV Hive tent. The entrepreneurs participating included: Adena Joy, Hills to Hills Shuttles & Tours of Fayette County; Ruschelle Khanna, Mountain Mama Stitchery of Raleigh County; Jordan Casey, Botany Tropicals of Summers County; Leah Chester, Rock Root River Tours of Fayette County; and Marcus Fox, Fat Bottom Coolers LLC of Raleigh County.

—At the conclusion of Bridge Day, the Fayette County Sheriff's Department congratulated K-9 Java on her retirement after six years of dedicated service to the citizens of Fayette County. Java ended her service being partnered with Corporal Korey Spears. Both deputies obtained certification from the West Virginia Police Canine Association for explosive detection. K-9 Java and Cpl. Spears have also conducted hundreds of public demonstrations throughout Fayette County. They have represented the department at many events and met numerous people in the process.

"Thank you Deputy Java," said Fayette County Sheriff Mike Fridley.

Email: skeenan@register-herald.com or follow on Twitter @gb_scribe

Cheryl Keenan contributed to this report.