Giant Rubber Band

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Legs strapped to the chord.

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle to the jumping ledge.

Stand up Straight...

Deep Breath...

Don't look Down...

3,

2,

1,

CYA!

134 meters…

8 seconds of freefall…

Everything about the Nevis Highwire Bungy Jumping experience is intended to maximize the fear stirring inside you. After the bus ride, you are immediately strapped into a harness before ever seeing the Ravine or Jump Platform. Once suited up, you are allowed to walk out to the viewing deck where you can see the 380m cables stretching across the valley suspending the world's first Bungy Gondola. This viewing platform does not however give you a view of the river below the platform; you are allowed to let your mind wander. In order to get out to the launch pad, you have to ride in an open air, open floor rickety little cage/cart. This ride gives you your first sight of just how far down 134 meters really is. FAR!!!

Inside the Gondola, you are no longer hooked to any safety cables and are allowed to roam around the room that is swaying back and forth with the wind. I was warned that on particularly windy days the Gondola not only sways back and forth, but also bounces on the cables.
It could be worse but as this Gondola is swaying back and forth, there are glass floors that have duck tape all over them. The duck tape did NOT MAKE ME FEEL SAFE! I wish I had more pictures of this morning but there were two problems, I was shaking uncontrollably as I'm not quite comfortable with heights and when I wasn't shaking I was using the video camera so I do have quite a bit of video footage. My dad came out to the Launch Pad with us and was nice enough to film just about every aspect of the actual jumps. With my footage and the official DVD footage they film for you, I should have a nice montage for the film of the entire journey.

What it all comes down to is how much you allow yourself to be psyched out by all the surrounding fear factors. Fortunately the jump order is determined by weight so I Royal was 4th to Jump and I was 5th. This was perfect as it gave me enough time to see a few other people jump and tell me how much of a rush it was and not enough time to completely freak out. The guys that strapped my legs to the bungy laughed about how scared I appeared but affirmed that the more scared you are, the more rewarding the jump. I watched Royal jump seconds before having my name called. From that point you have maybe three minutes to gear yourself up. It all happens so fast, intentionally, so that you don't back out of the experience. They try not to let you think as they talk to you the entire time you are making your final preparations and shuffling out to the platform. There's a hand holding you from behind telling you to stand up straight, as soon as he releases his hand he counts down for you...
All you have to do is jump...


Although Bunjy Jumping has gained considerably in popularity since the late eighties, the Nevis Highwire is one of a kind. Its the second highest in the world (by 3 meters) and was the first Commercial Bungy operation to work from suspension cables.

Check back later for more pictures....

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Comments

[Stas]

Yikes
Scares me just reading about it. Happy new year boys!

[Amo]

No Way in Hell
That's nuts man, no way i would do it.