Idaho adventurer shatters BASE jumping record at Perrine Bridge

TWIN FALLS (KTVB) — For thousands of years, the people of planet Earth have worked to out-do each other.

Sometimes for good, sometimes for not – sometimes for no real reason other than being able to say you are better than the others.

The game of one-upmanship has a special home in Twin Falls. The Perrine Bridge: It’s a gorgeous piece of architecture. Most people drive over it, some look off the side to capture the scenes.

Others jump off with a parachute only to climb back up, nearly 500 feet, to jump again and again and again and – well, you get it.

There is a record to chase: the most human-powered jumps and climbs back up in a 24-hour period.

We’ve followed this battle for years and a new chapter was written this week by a new character.

One looking far beyond the record book.

Last Friday, Jonathan Cox made history by successfully completing 102 consecutive human-powered jumps off the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, crushing the previous record of 64 jumps.

Cox embarked on his record attempt at 7 p.m. on Friday. The first 20 jumps, Cox said, went smoothly as he enjoyed soaring 486 feet down to the river below. Things changed for Cox around the 30 jump mark – fatigue began to set in.

“Once I started to hurt, the bike ride out to the middle of the bridge was my recovery time,” Cox said. “Around 60 jumps, I hit a wall and was really struggling to climb back up from the river.”

But he was more than determined to push through. Cox had set his sights on the century mark, the 100-jump milestone. The endurance to climb back up the side of the Snake River Canyon for 24 hours cannot be understated. In total, Cox climbed 49,572 feet. Mount Everest is 29,032 feet in elevation for perspective. So yes, Cox climbed Everest completely and almost a second time during his journey.

Backed by a support team of family and friends who stayed up through the dark night with him, he persevered through the challenging pain and fatigue.

Sure enough, over the 24 grueling hours of jumping and climbing, Cox made the emotional 102nd and final jump off the bridge. He crushed the previous record of 64 jumps by nearly 40 jumps, something so impressive it is hard to put into description.

“The last jump was awesome because I knew it was over and I didn’t have to keep pushing myself,” Cox said. “It was super relieving and I’m so glad I was able to accomplish this goal.”

Cox said the extreme feat of human endurance wasn’t just about him – the support of his community pushed him into incredible territory.

“I couldn’t have done it without all my family and friends,” Cox said. “It was amazing to see everybody come together.”

With this unprecedented accomplishment, Cox has cemented his spot in Twin Falls’ record books. He knows it is only a matter of time before someone tries to break his mark. A mark that is a mountain to beat.