TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Two women from Australia were rescued after separate BASE jumping accidents near the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls on Thursday, both occurring during their first-ever jumps.
Emergency crews responded to the first incident just before 1 p.m. when a woman had a hard landing at the normal BASE jump site.
"An individual jumped off the Perrine bridge, and she had a pretty hard landing there at the normal BASE jump site," said Sergeant Ken Mencl from the Twin Falls Sheriff's Office. First responders arrived in less than 20 minutes and transported the woman to a hospital.
Just hours later, a second Australian woman experienced a parachute malfunction that swung her into the canyon wall on the north side of the river, leaving her stranded on the rocky slope above the water.
"We were able to shuttle crew and equipment to get to that north side of the wall and hike up above the injured patient, and rappel down to her and put her in the states, and lower her down to the waterway," Mencl said.
Experienced BASE jumper Chase Reinford witnessed both incidents.
"I immediately grabbed my parachute and ran down the bridge because I was gonna jump and land next to them to help," Reinford said.
Reinford, who has nine years of BASE jumping experience and makes 8 to 10 trips to Twin Falls each year, called the dual accidents unusual.
"As a whole, this was an anomaly; it's not a common occurrence to have two major injuries in one day," Reinford said.
The Perrine Bridge attracts BASE jumpers from around the world because it requires no permit and offers relatively few obstacles on the way down.
"This is really the safest object to learn to BASE jump on in the entire world," Reinford said.
Despite Thursday's incidents, Mencl noted the area is seeing increased activity as the weather improves.
"We know the weather's going to be great this weekend. People have that cabin, they're itching to get out on the waterways. We're seeing a lot of jumpers," Mencl said.
Reinford said it was unfortunate for the women to have these incidents on their first day.
"You'd be surprised how few injuries are actually in the wild. I think it's happening more here because there's a lot of beginners learning, and that's what contributed to both incidents yesterday," Reinford said.
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