Experienced Cliff Jumper Killed While Jumping Off the Lake Britton Bridge

Correction: The cliff jumper drowned by jumping off the Lake Britton Bridge off Highway 89 – not the Stand By Me Bridge. Both bridges are known locally as the “Lake Britton Bridge” but Shasta County Sheriff has confirmed it was the bridge with vehicle traffic.

A dive team was able to recover the body of a cliff jumper who died on Lake Britton on Wednesday. According to law enforcement, the unidentified man was an “experienced cliff/bridge jumper” from the Reno area. The man’s identity has not been released.

The tragic incident occurred when the man jumped off the Lake Britton Bridge and never resurfaced. When deputies, medical personnel and a CHP helicopter arrived on the scene around 4:15 pm, the man had been underwater for more than 30 minutes. His body was recovered around 7:45 pm at a depth of 37 feet under the surface.

“The victim was with a group of friends who had filmed him jumping from the bridge,” said Shasta County Sheriff in a statement. “The video showed the victim jump off the bridge and attempt a flipping maneuver before landing awkwardly in the water.”

Many of the professional cliff jumpers in Northern California travel to the bridge to perform their death-defying acts from the famed location. Many of these thrill seekers use extremely cautious strategy when jumping, including depth checking and keeping a person located in the water below to help assist any jumps gone wrong.