Monster Field Guide
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The Story
Jamie volunteers to rig a rope swing on the Baling River Bridge in Guizhou, China, walking its exposed beams 1,200 feet above the river before BASE jumping at the yearly local event.
1,200 feet above the river
This one starts on a steel beam a third of a metre wide, 1,200 feet above the river, with nothing clipped to anything. Jamie volunteered to rig the rope swing at the yearly BASE jumping event on the Baling River Bridge in Guizhou, China, one of China's tallest bridges.
Rigging meant walking out along the bridge beams by hand and by foot. It looked like those old photos of men building skyscrapers, except Jamie was wearing a parachute.
The jump
Once the swing was set, Jamie BASE jumped from the Baling River Bridge and landed in the valley below. The event draws jumpers from around the world each year.
What the walk teaches
The jump lasts seconds. The walk out on the beams takes far longer and asks for a different kind of control: slow breathing, one step at a time, no rush. It is a short film, but it shows the calm that has to exist before any big moment.
Why this one matters
Events like this one in Guizhou are part of how the sport, and the story, travel. For viewers, it is a reminder that fear is managed in small steps, not defeated in one leap.
Chapters
00:00 Walking the beams of the Baling River Bridge · 00:33 BASE jumping from the bridge · 00:45 Landing in Guizhou