Royal Gorge Games 2008

One weekend each year, in late summer, dozens of men and women whose first passion is to drop from cliffs and skyscrapers gather quietly in southern Colorado. Their "exit point," with a bungee cord or without, is the world's highest suspension bridge.

Update -- along with the photos below, an essay by RBM on the gathering can now be found at Suss.

Slideshow: Royal Gorge Games 2008

Postscript (Feb. 8, 2010) -- There's news today that Emmar Properties, builder of a tower envied by BASE jumpers worldwide, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, has indefinitely closed mankind's tallest structure just a month after its opening. The BBC reports the shutdown comes after "an unexpectedly high number of visitors and problems with the power supply."

In January, days after the opening, two men from the United Arab Emirates, Nasr Al Niyadi and Omar Al Hegelan, set a new record for the highest building BASE jump by leaping from a crane at the Burj Khalifa's 160th floor (2,205 feet). Below, a montage of their jumps, which were sanctioned by Emmar Properties: