Practice suicide at the height of 220m

" ......... zuerst denkst du das war`s, und dann kommt nach der Panik dieses irre Glücksgefühl ..............."

Bungee Jumping ist seit vielen Jahren der ultimative Thrill. Wenn du schon gesprungen bist, dann weißt du was ich meine. Wenn nicht, dann solltest du Bungee Jumping unbedingt mal ausprobieren.

Mitmachen nicht zuschauen ist die Devise.

What better platform for your event could you have than the 380 m long, 8 m wide, 220 m high Verzasca dam wall.

This huge high profile location has breath taking views of the valley with it's traditional mountain villages and down to the lake Maggiore and Italy.

Time and again it's proved itself to be the perfect place to host a variety of events.

Whatever you choose to do it's sure to be a fantastic memorable occasion.

Toss yourself off from a great height

You and your mates stuck doing boring things? Want to have some fun? Well, we've got the perfect suggestion - start tossing yourself off. No, you dirty bugger, I don't mean that, I mean tossing yourself off a dam, 220 m above the ground. That's right, you've all heard of it, but now's your chance to try bungee jumping. Nothing comes close to the experience, and if it doesn't give you the biggest thrill of you life, then you better go to the doctor and find out if you're actually alive. Spare underwear not included.

Whether you call it Bungee, Bungy, Bunjee, Le Benji or Suicide Practice, Bungee Jumping is a growing sport.

Der Nervenkitzel - Die Glücksgefühle nach dem freien Fall sind unbeschreiblich ! Dafür nehmen Bungee Jumper auch gerne feuchte Hände und zitternde Knie vor dem Sprung in Kauf.

Erleb' die Freiheit in einer neuen Dimension und verlier' Dich in der Faszination des freien Falls. Beflügle Deine Abenteuerlust, Dein Selbstwertgefühl. Ein Bungee Jump macht völlig neue Dimensionen des Erlebens spürbar.

Introduction

Das Original aus dem James Bond Film "Goldeneye" mit Pierce Brosnan als Superstar. Der berühmteste Bungee Sprung der Welt und mit 220 m Höhe auch Weltrekord. Die Schlüsselszene wurde genau hier, auf dem Verzasca Staudamm im Tessin (Südschweiz) gedreht. Nebst dem Bond-Film wurden auch der bekannte Bogner-Film „Fire, Ice & Dynamit“, sowie zahlreiche TV-Produktionen am gleichen Ort realisiert (z.B.auch „Verstehen Sie Spass“). Im Schweizer Fernsehen DRS sieht man den Sprung übrigens auch als Station Signet.

Schlüpfen Sie selbst in die Haut des 007-Agenten und erleben Sie diesen Bungee Sprung der Extraklasse. Mehr Action gibt es nicht! Dieser Sprung wurde übrigens auch als bester Film-Stunt aller Zeiten ausgezeichnet.

Beschreibung

Der Bungee-Jump ist mit 220 Metern der höchste Sprung der Welt. Hier wurde die Schlüsselszene aus dem Film Golden Eye gedreht, dieser Stunt wurde als Bester Stunt überhaupt gekürt. Die Saison der Anlage beginnt jeweils an Ostern und endet Ende Oktober. Gesprungen wird am Nachmittag, die Sprünge müssen reserviert werden. Das Mindestalter beträgt 10 Jahre, Mutige ab 60 Jahren müssen ein ärztliches Attest mitbringen. Tandemsprünge sind nicht möglich.

History

This is supposedly how it all started. For over 1,500 years the inhabitants of Pentecost Island, part of Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides) in the south Pacific have bungee jumped with vines attached to their ankles for yams. Success is a dozen or so leaps without killing or crippling which ensures a bountiful yam harvest. While we feel modern agriculture would be more effective, do keep in mind that cannibalism in that part of the world only officially ended in 1972.

The divers, who start jumping from lower levels as young as 7, leap to prove their manhood. This is somewhat paradoxical since diving was started by a woman. Her name has been forgotten but legend has it she was an abused wife of a man named Tamalie. She ran deep into the jungle and climbed a tree. When Tamalie found her, she threatened to jump. To prove his love, he said he would leap too. She jumped, having secretly tied vines to her ankles. He jumped along with her not knowing about he vines. The vines saved her. He, of course, died.

Women re-enacted the jump for years after that. Then the village elders decided this female rite was bad for Tamalie’s spirit and ruled that, henceforth, men would do all the jumping. Way to go guys!

A Misunderstanding

As we already know (modern day) bungee was started in England by Oxford Dangerous Sports club, they called it Bungee. It was comercialised most successfully in New Zealand and they called it Bungy I guess as a spelling mistake. Since they made it more popular they say this is the True spelling.

Bungee refers to the use of Shock Cords. Multiple, preloaded core rubber, cased cords. Most typical in North America is the 5/8 inch military specification shock cord. 210% elongation (2.1 times static length. Also recently available here TR2 240% and RipCord 280%.

Bungy originated in New Zealand, is all rubber cords (with no elongation limitation) and a variable offset anchor system allowing end stretch distance tuning and the controllable head dip.

Difference?

Bungee

more freefall, higher G, Rock and Roll ride. Big hangtime on rebounds. Not for the timid and undurable.

Bungy

Lower velocity, smoother ride, higher rebounds. Very conducive to ankle jumps

This can be explained by the two very different cords used in the US and Europe/New Zealand. In the US they use 3-4 cords shrouded in Static sheath which offers a little more safety than the Euro/Kiwi cords which are many elastic strips help together by more elastic strips. The US cords ride exactly like Bungee is described (and that how the makers spell it) and the Euro/Kiwi cords ride just like Bungy is described more trivia.

Plunging Headlong Into a Story

By : Cek Dok

The thought of dying had rarely entered my mind.

Oh sure, there was that time I nearly tore my face off in a three-wheeler accident. Or that frightened Rottweiler that went for my head but managed to only pierce my earlobe.

Each time, the fear of death entered my head only for a brief moment, quickly replaced by the realization that I was still alive, albeit somewhat bloodied.

But this bungee-jumping stuff was quite different. I had way too much time to think.

Keep in mind we are guys who have been to the top of Europe , Mt Blanc ( 4810m) , Gran Paradiso ( 4061 m ) . And guys who hung precariously from the 300 m Bigwall in Chamonix. And the guy who have experienced many near death experiences.

In each of those cases, the worst-case scenario was accidentally falling 20 m from a 100 m cliff.

But there I was standing on the top of 380 m long, 8 m wide, 220 m high Verzasca dam wall at the Verzasca Valle about to intentionally hurl myself head-first toward the deep gorge

Way too much time to think, indeed.

I thought back to the day my friends approached me with an offer to go bungee jumping for a near death experience. He wanted to find members to go along with him. I jumped at the chance.

Jump-master Toni Draganits of Schweiz and the 6 other thrill-seekers with me on the dam tried to convince me that this "leap of faith" wasn't going to kill me.

I was connected to a very large bungee cord, it by itself capable of stopping me before I hit the base of the gorge. And the bungees only recoil 80 percent, so I wouldn't be hitting the bottom of the platform on my way back up.

All that was left to do was start the countdown and get on my way.

I'd had two days to think about the leap, but as I stood on the platform looking down at what seemed like a bottomless nothing, I had to ask myself once again . . . why?

"After you jump, the sky is a little bluer and the grass is a little greener," said Yunus, a 23-year-old Mechatronic students from Esslingen with a fear of heights. Earlier in the day, a manr paced back and forth across the dam for nearly half an hour before making 3 jumps. If he could do it, certainly I could, too.

"I've never been so scared of anything that much in my life," said Elai. "I feel like I'm now defining the limits of my own ability. I've gained some control of my fears."

Armed with the knowledge of safety and the promise of newfound introspection, I started the countdown.

"FIVE!" (Should I have said that, I thought) . . . "FOUR!" (The others started counting along) . . . "THREE!" (I'm not really doing this) . . . "TWO!" (Bend your legs and get ready to leap) . . . "ONE!" (Close my eyes, scream and swan dive headfirst off the platform).

About two seconds later I came to a smooth stop at the bottom of the bungee cords. I was too busy regaining my senses. I still hadn't stopped screaming, but now it was in jubilation. I survived!

The drive back was long. I was exhausted. I was happy. I was alive.

I wanted to do it again.

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