3 Bungee Jumping

Look out below! From this bungee jumper's point of view, humans on the ground below are as tiny as ants. Bungee jumpers regularly enjoy falls of 150 feet before their bungee cords pull them back to avoid painful collisions with the ground.

Anyone can do it. But it helpsto be a little crazy. The idea is simple enough. You climb a high tower or crane. Or perhaps you go up in a hot-air balloon. In any case, someone attaches a thick rubber band around your ankles. Then you leap out into the wild blue yonder. Your body plunges toward the earth below. Then, at the last moment, the rubber band stops you. This is not your day to die.

The sport is called bungee jumping. It began long ago as a ritual on certain islands in the South Pacific. (These islands form the present-day country of Vanuatu.) Each spring the islanders gathered vines. They wove them into a kind of rope. Then young men called“land divers” climbed high towers. They tied the vines to their ankles and jumped. They did it to prove their courage. A good jump was also supposed to help ensure healthy crops for the island.

Modern bungee jumping began in England on April 1, 1979. Note the day. It was April Fool's Day. The members of the Oxford Dangerous Sports Club were looking for a new thrill. They had heard of “land diving” and wanted to try it for themselves. So the men climbed up a high bridge, tied rubber cords to their ankles, and jumped. One member later said the jump was “quite pleasurable, really.”

But it was a man from New Zealand who made bungee jumping a big sport. His name was Alan John Hackett. Hackett was quite a daredevil. He had once jumped off the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Then, in 1988, he wanted to give others a chance to try bungee jumping. At that time, though, the sport was illegal. So Hackett made a deal with New Zealand police. Using his own money, he would fix up a dilapidated bridge over a river gorge. In return, the police would let him open a legal bungee jumping center on the bridge.

The center was a huge success. Hackett gave each jumper a special T-shirt. It became a hot item among daredevils. Everyone wanted one of those shirts. And since the only way to get one was to make a jump, more and more people agreed to do it. Some jumpers did really wild things. They asked to jump with an extra-long cord. That way they would dip into the river before the cord pulled them back. One man put shampoo on his head. When he bounced up out of the water, he was washing his hair!

Bungee jumping soon caught on in the United States. It was introduced in California and Colorado. Then it spread to other states. At first, only the boldest people did it. But over time, others joined in. All kinds of people took the plunge. Even one man who was helped out of a wheelchair jumped. And no jumpers complained about paying$50 or more to do it.

As thrills go, it's hard to beat bungee jumping. The platforms used for the jumps are 10 stories high—or higher. That means jumpers fall as far as 150 feet before the cord saves them. First-time jumpers can almost taste their fear. Jay Petrow thought about it for a year before he jumped. He said his palms began to sweat just thinking about it. Emily Trask said, “The first time I jumped, I was terrified.”Nora Jacobson said, “My terror [was] cold and rippling.”

Some jumpers use humor to calm their nerves. Just before her first jump, a woman named Alison was asked how old she was. “I hope to be 29 soon,” she replied. Most jumpers are young, but some are not. S. L. Potter made his first leap at the age of 100. “It was now or never,” he later explained.

There is, of course, real danger. There is no margin for error in bungee jumping. One mistake, and you're history. And while most people live to tell the tale, a few don't. In 1989 two French jumpers died when their cords broke. A third died when he slammed into a tower. In 1991 Hal Irish became the first American jumper to die. Somehow his cord became detached as he dove through the air.

So accidents do happen. But for many, the danger just adds to the excitement. Besides, bungee jumpers don't talk about the tragedies. They talk about the triumphs. They talk about facing their fears. And they talk about the joy of the fall itself. During a jump, a person hits speeds of 60 miles an hour. Then, when the cord tightens, the jumper springs back up into the air like a rocket. For a short time, he or she is a kind of human yo-yo, bouncing up and down in the breeze. When the cord loses its bounce, the ride is over.

Even then, though, some of the joy remains. Jumpers feel both happy and relieved when it's over. Most laugh and smile as they are unhooked from the cord. “Hey, look at me! I did it!” many of them shout. It is, as one person said, “a natural high.” Bungee jumpers even have a name for this soaring feeling. They call it the post-bungee grin. Maybe someday you'll decide to make that leap of faith and share that grin. All it takes is a little money—and a lot of nerve.