Skydiver Hits Bridge in Colorado, Dies

AP via Yahoo! ^ | Oct 6, 2003 1:03 AM ET | AP

[hattend]

Skydiver Hits Bridge in Colorado, Dies Mon Oct 6, 1:03 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

CANON CITY, Colo. - A skydiver attempting a stunt was killed Sunday when he hit a 1,000-foot-high bridge and fell onto the rocks below, police said.

Dwain Weston, 30, died following the inaugural Go Fast Games, in which he and other parachutists had jumped off the 1,053-foot-high Royal Gorge Bridge, said Heather Hill, a vice president of event sponsor Go Fast Sports & Beverage Co.

Weston, of Australia, had jumped from an airplane with another parachutist. They were supposed to free fall until they reached the bridge, at which point Weston was to go above the bridge and the other athlete would go under it.

Weston, who was traveling an estimated 100 mph, miscalculated his distance from the bridge, the world's highest suspension bridge. He struck a railing and fell onto a rock face roughly 300 feet from the bottom of the gorge.

"I really couldn't believe it. All I ever heard was he was the best in the world, and he had skill to do it," Hill said. "Of course he always understood the risk and consequences of what he did. He was somewhat of a showman in his sport."

Weston was wearing a "wing suit," which has fabric extending below the arms to the body, with more fabric between the legs, allowing a skydiver to catch the air and travel more horizontally.

There were about 200 people on the bridge at the time of the accident, said Royal Gorge Bridge and Park executive director Mike Bandera. The bridge was shut down for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Before the accident, Weston had participated in the Go Fast Games, jumping off the bridge with about 40 other BASE jumpers — athletes who skydive from fixed objects.

The Royal Gorge is narrow for maneuvering parachutes, and winds are tricky, according to Go Fast Parachuting Director Jimmy Pouchert.

Hill said the accident would not affect future Go Fast Games, which also include rock climbing and BMX jumping.

[Servant of the 9]

PING

So9

[Travis McGee]

That had to hurt.

[Poohbah]

To quote a buddy of mine who is an avid skydiver:

"Remember, the ground ALWAYS has the right-of-way."

[4mycountry]

[Poohbah]

LOL!

[tet68]

As we always said, "It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the end."

Guess he just went, "A bridge too far."

Maybe Burt Lancaster was right about bat suits.

[hattend]

That's funny!

[smokinleroy]

Is THAT what they built this bridge for?

The bridge serves no purpose other than to be the highest suspension bridge in the world. The road across it is made of wooden planks and it is just wide enough for two cars to pass. The whole thing moves when a vehicle crosses. The road doesn't really take you anywhere except the other side.

[mhking]

That deceleration trauma will get you every time...

Just damn.

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[sweetliberty]

Awesome rafting in that area though.

[AdA$tra]

That is a freak show of a bridge. Every time I have walked across it has been a mental chore for my vertigo and me. Swinging back and forth with cracks between the wooden planks so you can actually see the water rushing by a thousand feet below. On my late wife and mine's last vacation there I managed to break the tension of vertigo by telling a group of rowdy teenagers to watch out for the loose boards in the middle. We laughed all the way across. You should have seen the looks on their faces and heard the sudden silence of their rowdiness.

[thegreatbeast]

I wonder if there was a bloom when he hit the bridge.

There had to be.

[visualops]

My son creates Stick Figure Death Theater flash animations. I'll have to refer him to this article lol

[ConservativeLawyer]

Awesome rafting in that area though.

Rafting is a hobby of mine. What rivers are in that area?

[sweetliberty]

The Arkansas River runs through the Canon City area and the gorge is supposed to be the best in the state.

This is a good outfit.

[ConservativeLawyer]

Thanks! Looks like an excellent trip!

[sweetliberty]

This is from one of the trips my daughter and I took on the Arkansas.

.

[gortklattu]

The Arkansas runs through the Royal Gorge....raft that and another stretch above it called Brown's canyon. It has a LOT of great rapids.

I worked as a guide on the river for three years, rafting it every week at least four times. Good Fun.

[gortklattu]

I think I know what that skydiver was trying to do....open below ground level. Only one skydiver that I know of, BJ Worth had done that. (He did the work for the James Bond movies and did the ejection scene for the Right Stuff) I jumped with him in Casa Grande AZ in the 70's.

If the jumper was trying to open below ground level he had some time to adjust his fall before he hit the bridge. He may have tried to cut it close on purpose. That's my bet.

Terminal Velocity in a stable position is a little over 120 mph. I gather the ground rush he experienced was incredible. At least he died in a thrill. To the new jumpers, just jumping is kind of boring.

[.38sw]

I never did jump off of any bridges, nor did I track toward any bridges, Swervie. Never seemed like a good idea to me.