CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some BASE jumpers are threatening to take their parachutes elsewhere after organizers for the popular Bridge Day Festival in Fayette County announced they will scan jumpers’ fingerprints before future events.
The commission voted last month to approve the measure for the festival set for the third Saturday in October at the New River Gorge Bridge.
Festival officials said the scan will tell if a participant is on a terror watch list or wanted for a felony, but a controversy took place last year when jumpers learned about the scans, saying it made them feel as if they were being treated like criminals.
“I don’t really understand why they would feel that way when it’s been in place since 2002,” said Sharon Cruikshank, Bridge Day Commission chair, “This is nothing new.”
Organizers of Bridge Day, the largest one-day festival in the state, started requiring background checks for jumpers, rappellers and vendors after 9/11.
Cruikshank said the only thing new this year is the finger scan. She said scans will be a less intrusive compared to routine background checks because participants will no longer have to provide their Social Security numbers and date of birth.
She said the scanners will be similar to those found at amusement parks or DMVs, without storing any information.
Cruikshank said the scans are required by the West Virginia State Police because jumpers and rappellers are allowed to enter the event with large equipment bags between 7-9 a.m. without going through the festival’s security. She said searching every bag would be too time consuming.
If people do not want the scan, they have another option of a third party non-criminal background check.
“People are free to choose. They don’t have to do it. They don’t have to come jump off the bridge, but if they do want to come, they will need to do that whether they’re a rapeller, a vendor, or a BASE jumper,” said Cruikshank.
Some jumpers have said they will visit the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho instead of attending Bridge Day this year.