A Bungy Adventure
6 Easy Steps To Bungy Jumping
Step 1.... Pay Up
Naturally, the first thing to do is to pay the man a sizeable amount of money! Next you must sign your life away; that is, release the bungy jump company of any liability in case of your death or injury. So far, this is the easiest part. On this day there were a few jumpers ahead of me, so I had little wait. But this turned out to be good because the jumpers in front of me were helping me by showing no fear and were making the jump without hesitation.
Step 2.... Strap Up
Step 2 is not too bad either. The crew takes your weight so as to select the correct size bungy cord for you; then they hook it up to your harness, which has been carefully strapped onto your body. The next step is to hook up and anchor the other end of the bungy cord to the cage, which the crane will bring up 270 feet above the man-made pond directly underneath. The pond is required by law as a safety feature. Some bungy jumps have been performed over natural lakes or other water sources to avoid constructing one.
Step 3.... Get Pulled Up
Now it gets a little scary as you get in the the cage and the crane begins taking you higher and higher - to 270 feet. When you finally get to the top, the Jump Master instructs you to stand up and walk to the gate (which now has been opened); this is quite a sensation! As you look down, you can't quite make out the people; cars are just dots; the man-made safety lake is the size of a pencil eraser ("that's my target?") Looking outward, the view is spectacular as you can see for miles and miles. But, back to business.
Step 4.... Jump Out
Okay, I lied! There are five easy steps and one hard one. This is the hard one.
When I went to observe my first bungy jump, which was also 270 feet, it was a while before anyone ever walked up to the booth to plunk down some money for a jump. Finally, a young man stepped forward to give it a try, and the crowd at the outdoor beach restaurant gave him a rousing cheer. They harnessed him up and raised him inside the cage to 270 feet. The gate opened, the jumper walked to the edge, and the Jump Master started the count down. The jumper hesitated for a moment, then stepped back. That was it! He made several more trips to the edge, but never jumped. There in lies the secret...when the Jump Master first says the magic words, "three-two-one-bungy!" you must jump.
Before I made the 270-foot jump, I made my first one at 150 feet. I spent a few hours watching people make this very popular jump, and imagined myself up there listening to the Jump Master counting, "three-two-one-bungy" and then jumping off without hesitation. For the next few days I mentally went through the act of jumping out of the cage on that command. When the day finally came for me to jump, I went right out on cue. Now I was ready for the big one. Here I am, diving out as I would from a swimming pool diving board.
Step 5.... Free Fall
I can't tell you much about the free fall - it happens so fast and I was so excited that I didn't remember too much. But I do remember when the bungy cord finally stretched to its limit and sprung me up to a new height - and then another free fall. This happens a couple more times... and was a lot of fun. Finally, however, you stop bouncing and it's time to get down to Earth. The fun's over.
Step 6.... Touch Down
This should be the easiest step - you would think, but this is when the only glitch occured. I had stopped bouncing and the crane operator was swinging me around to where I was supposed to be put safely on the ground. However, there was a mix-up with the ground crew. No one went over to help me, and I was left dangling upside down for awhile until Carol and some of the onlookers got their attention. Finally, the guy in the photo came running over mumbling, "I have to do everything around here!" and guided me down to the mattress.
Bungy jumping is a great experience and I was ready to go again; I even had a discount ticket for the next one. But before I had the chance, the bungy jumping operations were shut down as accidents started occurring across the country.
(Photos taken by Carol Ouellette.)