What Sparks Adventurers?

If all your friends were jumping off a bridge, would you?

It\'s the hypothetical question people always ask, but as anyone at Bridge Day can tell you: that happens.

What sparks that passion for adventure? 

For Christian Newman, it was Bridge Day. 

"I came to Bridge Day 2010 as a spectator," he said. "I was so interested in doing it, I immediately went home and booked a skydiving trip in California."

And he hit the sky running from there, right on to jump after jump. He took more than 200 skydives, then a BASE course, and by the very next Bridge Day, he made his 100th BASE jump.

"I got after it," he said. Uh, yeah.

He jumps all over the world, just returning from a trip to Malaysia, and heading to his favorite spot, Moab, Utah, next month.

Once that adventure passion is sparked, it spreads.

Gordon Aanerude\'s daughter, Kristen, started rappelling, and brought her dad into the sport, too. She has been to Bridge Day for several years, and this is his 3rd year joining her. They take a few trips a year together, but Gordon says Bridge Day is the prime rappel every year.

"This is the coolest rappel in the world, and the fastest one," he said. "This is just wide open, and a classic, great drop. Holy cow, the scenery is unbelievable."

And joining the family for adventure is much easier when your parents own a drop zone, like Landon Gates\'s family did. He\'s been skydiving since he was 13.

"I got the privilege," he said. "They were allowed to take me, and no one else at that age."

Now 21, he\'s in his second year as a Bridge Day jumper, along with his father.

If you don\'t have family to spread the adventure spirit, there\'s always the internet. As a 13-year-old, Tone Staubs, saw pogo stick stunts online and started for himself. Now he\'s a pro on the Xpogo team.

"I  started trying everything I saw, never put it down and never stopped," he said. "It\'s a pretty awesome feeling to know you can say you\'re one of the best at something in the world."

And sometimes you find your passion to leap from the fear of the fall.

"I\'d been watching the airplane movies when I was a child, and that created a degree of fear that I had to overcome," said Bridge Day BASE jumper Mark Hall. "I was always worried that when I flew in an airplane that I didn\'t have an alternative way out, so I thought I\'d learn to skydive so I\'d always have a second point of exit, rather than just rely on the pilot. "

No matter how it\'s sparked, Bridge Day welcomes any and all adventurers.

What fuels your passion?