Thrill-seeking BASE jumpers and excited spectators converged on the Aizhai suspension bridge in China’s Hunan province on Sunday for a major BASE jumping festival on Sunday. More than 40 jumpers from 13 different countries including Great Britain, Spain and Germany participated in the event, which is Asia’s largest celebration of the daredevil sport of BASE jumping. BASE is an acronym which stands for the four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans or bridges, and earth or cliffs. BASE competitions have been held since the early 1980s, with accurate landings or free fall aerobatics used as the judging criteria. China held its first BASE jumping event in Shanghai in 2004. Among the competitors at the festival in Hunan was Lonnie Bissonnette, a 47-year-old paraplegic jumper from Canada who made the jump in his wheelchair.
