MOAB, Utah -- It’s a Thanksgiving celebration for adrenaline junkies and outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy dangling hundreds of feet above the air. People come from all over the world to participate, and others just to watch.
“Right now I’m basically on a really dramatic edge,” said Sketchy Andy Lewis while overlooking the Fruit Bowl.
The edge is where Sketchy loves to live.
‘It's like new-age tight rope walking,” Sketchy said.
For more than a decade, Sketchy has used the Fruit Bowl outside of Moab as his playground.
“It’s definitely something that takes time to get used to, you have to learn to be comfortable in your uncomfortable edges,” Sketchy said.
This week marks the eighth year of the unofficial event GGBY, which stands for Gobble, Gobble B------ Yeah. This year Sketchy expects hundreds to join them.
“It's just a bunch of people who have this weird hobby, and they'll show up any time between the 10th of 30th,” Sketchy said.
It's described as a spontaneous, leaderless assembly that attracts base jumpers, high liners and adrenaline junkies alike. It includes lines ranging from 20 to 730 feet, with a dramatic 400-foot drop to the Green River. People spend days walking flat webbing back and forth to make the spider web like nets high above the ground in a scene of organized chaos.
“You don't know what's going to happen, and you don't know when, but if you're there at the right time something beautiful happens,” Sketchy said.
But there is a lot of red tape to set their tape. Most places require them to cope with National Park regulations, but the landlord of the Fruit Bowl, the Bureau of Land Management, has a loophole. Since GGBY is not be an official event, the BLM does not require insurance, restrooms or other things usually required from organizers.
This is one of the last places to do something this extreme, and when you see Sketchy do extreme stunts, he says that's a message.
“That's me trying to tell you, 'Go do your own thing, go do something today special, and go love it,'” Sketchy said.
The BLM says the group is respectful of the land and they’ve never had any issues there. You can see the full video here:
