A group of local thrill seekers recently traveled to a bridge in West Virginia to participate in a sport that may repel the faint of heart.

Loose Lines, a Butler County-based group of about 11, headed for the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville, W.Va., last month to slide down 850 feet of specialty rope from the catwalk under the bridge deck to the river below.

Among the ranks was rappeller Jerry Jesteadt of Franklin Township, who made his second annual trip with the group to “Bridge Day,” which was held on Oct. 16. Jesteadt explained that federal law prohibits base jumping or rappelling off any man-made structure, but organizers of Bridge Day have attained special permission to shut down America’s third highest bridge each year for 31 years to accommodate the thousands who attend.

Jesteadt said the weekend festival includes an opening ceremony when the bridge is officially shut down at 7 a.m. on Friday as well as vendors and entertainment.

In addition to rappelling, base jumpers flock to Bridge Day to free-fall until they are a few seconds from the raging whitewater of the New River below, when they finally deploy their parachutes.

Jesteadt’s son Jason, 28, accompanied his dad to Bridge Day to dangle high above the blurry river, using gravity and friction to move downward at any speed they choose.

“It’s just the neatest feeling in the world,” said the elder Jesteadt. “You’re hanging there in the air watching the guys parachute right in front of you.”

Once the jumpers and rappellers reach the bottom, they take shuttles back up to the bridge for another dose of adrenaline. Jesteadt said when he and other Loose Lines members go caving, they rappel into a cave and must ascend out under their own power. He said the shuttle allowed him to rappel from the bridge four times.

Asked if he would consider base jumping, Jesteadt draws the line.

“I would never parachute off that bridge,” said Jesteadt. “They’re cutting it way too close for me. It takes less than 10 seconds to fall to the river, and some guys wait 4 or 5 seconds before they pull the rip cord.”

Jesteadt pointed out that every year one “jumper” is injured or killed, and only one rappeller has been hurt in the entire 31 years of the event.

The Jesteadts and others in Loose Lines also took advantage of the event’s multiple zip lines, in which a single rider is harnessed and clipped onto an inclined cable at the higher end. Once they let go, they are carried, dangling from the cable in a sitting position, to the bottom of the line.

Jesteadt said one of the zip lines he and Jason rode at the Bridge Day festival was 1,800 feet long, with a high point of 230 feet.

“You reach speeds of 50 miles per hour,” he said.

Jesteadt said the Loose Lines group mainly rappels at McConnells Mill State Park in Lawrence County, where draining of glacial lakes thousands of years ago have created steep cliffs and huge boulders.

Jesteadt said the highest stepping-off point there is 70 to 80 feet. He said many members of Loose Lines serve on various fire companies’ rope rescue teams.

One of those is Bob Barbarini, a Loose Lines member and longtime rappelling enthusiast.

In addition to serving as a rope rescue volunteer and fireman on the South Butler and Saxonburg fire companies, Barbarini teaches rope, cave, trench and tower rescue in Butler and Allegheny counties.

Barbarini was the expert who in April 2009 ascended 60 feet onto a high voltage electrical tower in Butler to rescue two young men, one of them injured, who had climbed up on the tower.

Barbarini has also volunteered on the Bridge Day safety team for the past nine years alongside military personnel, park rangers, state troopers and police from all over the country.

“I spend money to go down (to Bridge Day) and work for free,” joked Barbarini. “It’s a fantastic festival. It’s amazing to watch law enforcement work together the way they do.”

Barbarini said in its three-decade history, Bridge Day was canceled only once: in 2001 after a handful of Islamic extremists were found with drawings of the New River Gorge Bridge and where to most efficiently place explosives.

“There’s 150,000 to 200,000 people at Bridge Day,” Barbarini said quietly. “That would have been a hell of a hit for (the extremists).”

Barbarini said in every year since 2001, federal snipers are placed in the woods surrounding the bridge on Thursday evening, and a bomb sweep is conducted Friday morning before opening ceremonies.

Barbarini’s main tasks on the safety team include rigging anchor straps and going over rescue scenarios on Friday, and double checking rappellers on Saturday.

“At 800 feet, if you make a mistake, it’s going to be your last mistake,” said Barbarini.

He also answers rappellers’’ questions and checks individual harnesses as necessary. Barbarini prefers that rappellers are a bit nervous before stepping off the bridge into the abyss.

“When you’re not nervous, that’s when you become complacent and make mistakes,” said Barbarini. “We make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Barbarini repelled just once at the 2010 Bridge Day, where he talked to old friends and new from as far away as New Zealand and Canada.

“It’s fun to meet old friends and see new rappellers,” said Barbarini.

More information on New River Gorge Bridge Day is available at www.officialbridgeday.com. To contact Loose Lines rappelling group, call Jesteadt at 724-679-7399.