Judge Scolds Bridge Climbers

The two men arrested on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge on Monday said they are amateur climbers who were engaging in the extreme sport "parkour" when they climbed beneath the cable-stayed bridge.

James Chad Tomberlin, 21, and Kahrall Arkeen Wright, 18, have been charged with disorderedly conduct following the incident that held up traffic for two hours Monday afternoon.

The men apparently climbed over the bridge railing to a ledge below the roadway. Tomberlin had made it back to the bridge's pedestrian path when police arrived, according to an incident report. Wright was still underneath.

A firefighter was lowered under the bridge to harness and bring Wright onto the road, the report states. The whole ordeal caused the northbound side of the Ravenel Bridge to be closed as emergency workers sorted out the scene.

"Parkour" dates back to the 1920s, and has a cult following online. The men said the activity was just supposed to be "fun," but cops and a bond court judge are not impressed.

The men were booked into the jail Monday afternoon and faced a bond court hearing Tuesday morning. Tomberlin was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia for a small wooden pipe police believe was used for smoking marijuana, according to the report.

Smiling as they appeared remotely before a judge, the men said they had just moved to Charleston and that at least one of them needed to be in court in Greenville for other criminal charges later this week.

"While you're smiling, no one else in Charleston was yesterday," the judge told the men. "If you want to play parkour, I suggest you go to Las Vegas and join Cirque du Soleil."

The judge ordered the men held in the county jail until they came up with a $250 bond. Court records indicate the men had not posted the money as of Tuesday afternoon.

Finished in 2005, the Ravenel Bridge roadway is roughly a 180-foot drop to the Cooper River below. It's proven to be fatal in two suicides since December 2011 and in a handful of other bridge-jumping incidents over the years.