Difference between revisions of "Aizhai Bridge/Page 3"

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Jeremy Brice and Doug Frutos surround themselves with the girls in red.  Image by Doug Frutos.
  
  
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Jeremy Brice and Doug Frutos surround themselves with the girls in red. Image by Doug Frutos.
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Cameramen were prepared to capture the practice jumps that would never happen due to a delay in getting the tightrope wind stay cable removed.  Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
  
  
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Denise Sanders, Suzanne Graham, Steph Davis, Marta Empinotti and Lika Borzova on the south end of the Aizhai Bridge.  Image from Denise Sanders.
  
  
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Chinese jumper He Baoxian was always busy talking to the Chinese news media.  Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
  
  
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U.S. jumper Peter Andexlinger sports one of the many official Bridge Day logos that have been created for the yearly event that takes place in West Virginia.  Image by Adele.
  
  
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Russian jumper Lika has been to numerous BASE events especially the Kjerag Helliboogie, Voss Extremesportsweek, the Ostankino Tower Event and the World BASE Race among others.  She is a member of Team Gravity Workshop and JoyRiders and is sponsored by Skykarma and Skullcandy.  Image by Adele.
  
  
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Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
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Venezuelan native Ana Ortiz began to BASE jump with her dad and is one of the few women to have jumped from Angel Falls as well as the even more remote Baffin Island.  She is also the unofficial videographer of the Aizhai Event.  Her previous videos have won her awards in several film festivals.  Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
  
  
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Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
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Jason Bell has been the organizer of West Virginia's annual Bridge Day BASE event for over ten years.  Thousands of BASE jumpers have taken leaps from the famous New River Gorge Bridge since the event first began in 1981.  Jason is also an accomplished videographer with BASE footage that has appeared on numerous television shows as well as photos in newspapers and magazines.  Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com
  
  

Revision as of 20:53, 18 October 2012

This entry has 4 pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

The 2012 Aizhai Bridge BASE Jump Event!


On September 16th, 2012, China held its second ever bridge BASE jump event from the Aizhai Bridge. Almost 40 jumpers from 15 countries participated in the gathering that was officially titled The 2012 First Xiangxi Aizhai Bridge International Base Jump Festival.

The 5-day adventure also included sightseeing tours to the famous ancient city of Fenghuang as well as a visit to the spectacular Zhangjiajie and Tianmen Mountain National Parks. The cliffs and rock formations within these parks are as epic as anything in Yosemite National Park in the U.S. and were the inspiration for the look of the film Avatar.

The BASE jump portion of the event took place on September 16th and was seen by tens of millions of viewers on China's government owned CCTV as well as being broadcast on the private Hunan Television network. The event actually began on September 15th with an exciting display of balance and athleticism as 2 Chinese tightrope walkers crossed more then 300 meters over the Aizhai canyon. The wind cables that stabilized the tightrope ironically caused a cancellation of the practice jump from the Aizhai Bridge leaving most of the BASE jumpers with just one jump each.

But if the BASE portion of the event left the jumpers hungry for more, the organizers lavish itinerary largely made up for it with multiple nights in 4 and 5 star hotels traveling with a group of the friendliest Chinese student volunteers you could ever meet. The BASE jumpers got a taste of the culture and people of a region in China that few foreigners ever get to visit. They were exposed to a landscape of Hunan Province that has so much to offer with many sure to return in the future with an eye towards taking in more scenery as well as jumping from objects both known and unknown.


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1AizhaiWideViewByEric.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


6AizhaiBridgeBanners.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


7ForbiddenCityByDenise.jpg

Many of the jumpers checked out the Forbidden City in Beijing before the flight to Hunan. Image by Denise Sanders.


8GreerByGreer.jpg

Paul Brain, Peter Andexlinger and Michael Greer visit the huge Tiananmen Square. Image by Michael Greer.


9MickScorpionByDenise.jpg

Mick Knutson gets a taste of scorpion at one of the food stalls near the Wangfujing Street mall. Image by Denise Sanders.


10KenCricketByDenise.jpg

Ken Miller takes a bite out of a cricket! Image by Denise Sanders.


11HenryMickByDenise.jpg

Henry Boger, Denise Sanders and Mick Knutson. Image by Denise Sanders.


12Greer&BrainByEric.jpg

Michael Greer and Paul Brain prepare to check in for the flight to Changde, Hunan. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


13ChangdeGirlsByLika.jpg

Students from Jishou University greet us at Changde Airport. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


14ChangdeAirport.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


15Bert&LonnieByEric.jpg

Canadian jumpers Lonnie Bissonnette and Bertrand Cloutier. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


16AussiesByLika.jpg

The jumpers all received specific uniforms for each country they were from. There was a strong showing from Australia and Britain as the organization of the event originally began in 2011 by Australian and former BASE jumper Geoff Ollis. From left to right are Bradley "Patto" Patfield, Ken Miller, Chris "Douggs" McDougal, Gary Cunningham and Paul Brain. Image by Lika.


17AizhaiEventBannerByEric.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


18Henry.jpg

The small town of Aizhai was overrun by thousands of locals on the first day of the event. Image by Henry Boger.


19AizhaiFoodByBert.jpg

Hundreds of food vendors lined the main street into Aizhai. Image by Bertrand Cloutier.


20Steph&JayByDenise.JPG

Jumpers Steph Davis and Jay Epstein enjoy a drink at a bar in the historic ancient city of Fenghuang. Steph is also an expert rock climber who has several ascent records in Yosemite, Moab and elsewhere. You can read one of her two books on the subject as well as visit her website and blog at http://www.highinfatuation.com/. Jay is one of the few experts of all things relating to Mexico BASE having organized several trips to the famous Cave of the Swallows as well as helicopter trips to the remote El Gigante cliff wall in Copper Canyon. Image by Denise Sanders.


21AndreyTaxiSkateByDenise.JPG

Russian jumper Andrey Boldyrev hitched a ride all the way from downtown Fenghuang back to the hotel. He brings his trusty skateboard with him wherever he goes. Image by Denise Sanders.


22AndreySkatesByJennifer.jpg

Image by Jo Endrerud.


23FenghuangBridgeByDoug.JPG

A view of the central bridge in Fenghuang. The bar we visited was located on the top level of the bridge. Image by Doug Frutos.


24MickHenryByDenise.JPG

Image by Denise Sanders.


25OsamaBieberByKerkko.JPG

Who do you prefer, Osama or Beiber? Anything and everything is for sale in Fenghuang. Image by Kerkko Halme.


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Image by Kerkko Halme.


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Image by Denise Sanders.


AIZHAI BASE EVENT OPENING CELEBRATION!


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Douggs walks through the DeHang Canyon gate to the VIP stage area. Image by Douggs.


2AizhaiStageCelebration.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


3AizhaiStage&BridgeByEric.jpg

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Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


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Image by Douggs.


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Image by Adele.


29GroupOpeningCelebrationByEric.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


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Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


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Image by Adele.


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Image by Adele.


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Image by Adele.


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Image by Adele.


36DressByAdele.JPG

Image by Adele.


38Brice&GirlsFromDoug.JPG

Jeremy Brice and Doug Frutos surround themselves with the girls in red. Image by Doug Frutos.


37AizhaiBASElanding.jpg

Time to check out the landing platform! Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


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Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


40OpeningByKerkko.JPG

Ramón Alejandro gives Bertrand Cloutier the first drop onto the landing platform! Image by Kerkko Halme.


41AizhaiTower&TightropeByEric.jpg

One of the highest tightrope walks ever took place on the first day of the event with Chinese walker Adil Hoshur and 2 of his assistants walking 300 meters above the DeHang River on a wire 1,400 meters long parallel to the Aizhai Bridge. They had no safety harnesses or leashes to save them if they lost their balance. Adil has already performed at least three other record breaking high wire acts in China including a walk 662 meters above the floor of the Tiankeng Cave in Hubei Province on August 22nd, 2003. Canadian Jay Chochrane crossed over the Qutang Gorge of the Yangtze River on a 402 meter hire wire in 1995 and inspired Adil to repeat it again on June 23, 1997 with a much quicker walk time of just 13 minutes and 48 seconds. On October 6th, 2000 Adil also crossed between Mount Zhurong and Mount Furong in Hunan Province on a wire 436 meters high. These are the highest known wire walks in addition to Philippe Petit's famous 417 meter high walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on August 7, 1974.


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Image by Adele.


43TightropeWatchersByEric.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


44TightropeByBert.jpg

The most dramatic moment occurred when one walker crossed over the other. Image by Bertrand Cloutier.


45DeHangRiver.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


46Stage&RiverKidByEric.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


47AizhaiTower&TVCameraByEric.jpg

Cameramen were prepared to capture the practice jumps that would never happen due to a delay in getting the tightrope wind stay cable removed. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


48FemaleJumpersFromDenise.JPG

Denise Sanders, Suzanne Graham, Steph Davis, Marta Empinotti and Lika Borzova on the south end of the Aizhai Bridge. Image from Denise Sanders.


49ChinaJumperNewsCrew.jpg

Chinese jumper He Baoxian was always busy talking to the Chinese news media. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


50HeBaoxianByEric.jpg

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


51AndexlingerByAdele.JPG

U.S. jumper Peter Andexlinger sports one of the many official Bridge Day logos that have been created for the yearly event that takes place in West Virginia. Image by Adele.


52LikaByAdele.JPG

Russian jumper Lika has been to numerous BASE events especially the Kjerag Helliboogie, Voss Extremesportsweek, the Ostankino Tower Event and the World BASE Race among others. She is a member of Team Gravity Workshop and JoyRiders and is sponsored by Skykarma and Skullcandy. Image by Adele.


53Ana&TowerByEric.jpg

Venezuelan native Ana Ortiz began to BASE jump with her dad and is one of the few women to have jumped from Angel Falls as well as the even more remote Baffin Island. She is also the unofficial videographer of the Aizhai Event. Her previous videos have won her awards in several film festivals. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


54Jason&AizhaiTowerByEric.jpg

Jason Bell has been the organizer of West Virginia's annual Bridge Day BASE event for over ten years. Thousands of BASE jumpers have taken leaps from the famous New River Gorge Bridge since the event first began in 1981. Jason is also an accomplished videographer with BASE footage that has appeared on numerous television shows as well as photos in newspapers and magazines. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com


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Click on Page 4 for more Aizhai 2012 BASE jump event images!

This entry has 4 pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4