BASE jumpers just want to be free. This extreme form of skydiving stands for what people leap from: Buildings and antenna, spans such as bridges, and Earth, which usually means stunningly high cliffs.
In the United States, not very many places allow it. One go-to hub is Twin Falls, Idaho, where a bridge over the Snake River offers unfettered, year-round access. But the sport is under scrutiny after 73-year-old James E. Hickey died. He set his parachute on fire in a stunt this month, and his other chute didn't deploy.
Also this month, Carla Jean Segil, 26, was left dangling for 40 minutes after she was blown into the bridge. A Twin Falls rescue crew pulled her up through a manhole.
