Three K-State students will spend this weekend jumping off a bridge.

Chris Armstrong, senior in marketing; Andrew Karnowski, freshman in business administration pre-professional; and Jason Lauer, graduate student in biochemistry, three members of the K-State Parachute Club, along with 10-15 K-State alumni will participate in the 26th-annual Bridge Day event in Fayetteville, W.V., on Saturday.

According to www.bridgeday.info, the event draws about 450 selected and authorized base jumpers and about 200,000 spectators to the New River Gorge Bridge, where it is legal to jump off the bridge for a six-hour window. Any other time of the year, jumpers risk fines up to $5,000, gear confiscation and possible jail time.

Bridge Day is a celebration of the bridge and is considered one of the most extreme sporting events in the world. The bridge is the second-longest single-arch bridge and stands 876 feet off the ground.

"For me, it is an expansion of skydiving, which I have completed over 1,100 jumps. It is a total release from everything and an extreme adrenaline rush," Armstrong, secretary of the Parachute Club, said. "Right now I am scared to death, but it goes in waves."

Registration for the event began at noon on July 5 with hotel registration on Labor Day.

Armstrong said his interest in skydiving began at age 12.

When he came to K-State, he saw a flyer for the Parachute Club and decided to join.

"I have been waiting three years to participate in this event," Armstrong said. "I believe we won't walk away from this experience the same people."