In Moab, an area famous for white-water rafting and slickrock bike, Jeep and ATV trails, Grand County sheriff's deputies are accustomed to extreme-sports enthusiasts. But the growing number of BASE jumpers has officials concerned.
For the most part, adrenaline junkies are free to pursue their high and assume the risks, leaving deputies and search and rescue crews to bail them out of jams. But BASE jumping's growing popularity and danger have caused Sheriff James Nyland to consider legal restrictions.Veteran deputy Archie Walker said this spring has brought a record number of BASE -- an acronym for buildings, antennae, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs) -- jumpers to the red cliff canyons surrounding Moab. Jumpers are equipped with parachutes and, if all goes well, fling themselves from the sheer cliffs and float safely to the canyons below.
BASE jumping is not new in southeastern Utah. For four years jumpers have participated in the annual Tombstone Challenge, where participants make a series of jumps from cliffs near Moab known as the Tombstones. Late last year a small controversy arose at Dead Horse State Park when officials denied requests from producers of "Mission Impossible 2" to allow a stunt man, or possibly Tom Cruise, to jump off Dead Horse Point.
But outside state parks and major city limits, BASE jumping is legal for now.
Nyland said a recent rash of serious BASE-jumping injuries has convinced him the sport needs regulation. Already this year, four people have been seriously injured while BASE jumping only to be later rescued by the sheriff's office. The latest incident occurred Sunday when a Michigan man was critically wounded after jumping from a 200-foot cliff near Millcreek Canyon three miles east of Moab.
"It's amazing that someone hasn't been killed yet, but that's coming," Nyland said, adding that 200 feet is much too low for a parachute jump.
Earlier this month near Twin Falls, Idaho search and rescue crews pulled the body of Roger Butler from a stretch of rapids along the Snake River. The 29-year-old Ogden resident jumped from Hansen Bridge into the Snake River Canyon Feb. 6. Butler landed in the river and was dragged under by his open chute, but rescue crews were initially unable to locate his body, Twin Falls County sheriff's spokeswoman Nancy Howell said.
While the numerous high bridges around Twin Falls have made it a popular jumping area, Moab was generally undiscovered until recent years, Walker said. Now huge numbers of jumpers flock to the Bureau of Land Management-owned desert surrounding the slickrock capital of the world.
Nyland said bad weather Tuesday was the only thing preventing one ambitious jumper from attempting to set a world record for the most BASE jumps in a 24-hour period.
But besides the potential danger, Nyland said, cost considerations have led him to think about a legal change.
"They (vacationing BASE jumpers) don't understand the amount of money it takes to conduct these rescue operations," Nyland said. "They aren't paying anything to offset the costs to our taxpayers."
Soon Nyland said he will sit down with BLM officials to discuss specific restrictions that he will take to the Grand County Council for approval. While Nyland said he wouldn't favor a complete ban, he would recommend limiting jumps to specified safe areas. But until then, jumpers remain free to fling themselves from any cliff on BLM property.