INTRODUCTION
If adventure is the name of the game, there is nothing
more adventurous than getting a high from falling from
a height. Bungee can be classified in the category of
sports, which, to put simply, is the name of courage under
fire. Falling from a height of around 120 to 700 feet
and bunging up and down is only for those who have no
love lost for their life! However, on a realistic plane,
there is only an iota of risk involved in this game as
most of the organizations that hold such events maintain
high quality of professionalism. And if you won’t die
of fear, you would be okay after all.
There are great debates among the bungee jumpers as to
the origin of the game. Some of them say that bungee jumping
started with the people of Vanatu in the Pacific who used
to throw themselves down from the towers with their ankle
tied with vines.
The Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club
took inspiration from this ritual and started few experimental
jumps in the 1970s. A. J. Hacket (owner of the bungee
jumping company by the same name) saw the video of these
jumps and thought of developing it as an adventure sports.
He tested the latex rubber cords in the extreme conditions
and jumped first at Tinges, France and a new game was
born.
According to legend, the sports got
its first jumper around 1,500 years ago. This happened
when a tribal ran away from her enraged husband who
tried to kill her. However, when she saw her husband
gaining in speed, she climbed a tree and perched herself
at the top. But the husband was behind her even there.
As a last resort, she tied her legs with few vines and
jumped on, thereby giving birth to a new and exciting
adventure sports.
The sport was commercialized in the
mid-eighties, and within a few years, became quite popular
in Europe and North America. In India, bungee jumping
came in the early 1990s. Today, most of the Indian metros
have bungee jumping sites and more and more people are
taking to this adventure sports.
GENERAL INFORMATION
TYPE - Aero sports
Physical Requirement
There’s not much physical requirement in bungee jumping except
your mental strength. You should contact your medical
consultant for information on your current physical
status and suitability for the sports. As for the basic
information, you should not be an expectant mother,
should not have high blood pressure, must not have any
heart problem, and better if you don’t have any orthopedic
problem. Several cases of blood vessel rupture of the
eye have been reported from bungee jumpers. In most
of the cases, the sight returns in a few days, but if
you have any eye problem, you should avoid the game.
Any person is allowed to participate in the game if
he thanks that he is physically fit. Minors below the
age of 14 need to get a letter from their guardian while
a person above the age of 50 needs to show a medical
certificate that he is physically fit to participate
in the game.
Necessary Equipment
Cords
Most bungee jumping cords are made
from natural rubber. The common bungee cords like Euro
and Mil Spec cords stretch 2 to 4 times the original
length and the jumper feels 2.5 to 3.5 G’s. It is important
to note that commonly mountaineering cords are used
for bungee jumping, but they should be stronger as the
stress on the cord is always more when you are participating
in bungee jumping.
Harness
A bungee jumper uses two types of harness.
One is leg harness, which is attached with the cord,
and other is body harness to give the backup
Big Equipment
This includes the equipment from which
a bungee jumper takes his jump. It can be a mobile crane,
a bungee tower, a river bridge, bungee platform of a
building, etc.
Other Equipment
1. Jump Deck
2. Rigging System
3. Additional Requirements for Elevating Jump Decks
4. Portable Hoisting Device
5. Harnessing Procedures and Specifications
6. Rigging Equipment and Hardware
7. Carabiners
8. Slings/Webbing
9. Ropes
10. Pulleys/Shackles
11. Ascenders and Descenders
12. Scales
13. Retrieval Vessel
14. Equipment Inspection, Testing, Maintenance and Replacement
15. Bungee Cords
16. Hardware
17. Ropes, Cables and Webbing/Slings
MAJOR DESTINATIONS
All major cities in India like Delhi,
Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Goa provide
bungee jumping facilities
Delhi
Wanderlust Travels has set up a mobile crane for bungee
jumping in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. You
can try your jumping skills from a height of 130 feet.
The address is:
Mickey’s Bungee,
M-51, 52 Palika Bhawan
Opposite Hyatt Regency, R.K. Puram
New Delhi 110 066 (India),
Phone: 00 91 11 4102180, 4679059, 6883897, 6111889,
6881206
Fax: 00 91 11 6885188
Bangalore
Ozone is an adventure sports club based
in Bangalore that conducts bungee jumping from a height
of 80 feet. The jumping pad is stationed at Kanteerava
Stadium
Goa
Gravity Adventures provide bungee jumping experience
from a permanent tower. Enjoy the fun with Asia’s first
bungee jumping club.
Gravity Zone
Gravity Adventures
North Anjuna Beach, Goa, India
Phone: 6001079, 6055878 Fax: 6718832
BEST TIME
No specific time except the bad time!
Bungee jumping is one sport in which you can indulge
fully without any compulsion of climatic conditions
THE PROCESS
Bungee jumping is nothing but extending
your limits as an individual mentally as well as physically.
The first time when you are geared up for bungee jumping,
the only thing that comes to your mind is what you are
going to do and what is going to be the result. Whether
you will be safe after the fall is the second question.
However, once you are through with the ritual, you will
find a great boost to your morale and your self-confidence.
The real action starts at the site of bungee jumping
on the designated day. The first thing you are needed
to do is to sign an indemnity bond stating that anything
that happened to you during the process is your responsibility
and not of the organizer.
However, remember that if anything happens to the participant
due to laxity of the organizer, the onus is his. You
will be than weighed by the bungee personnel and assigned
a particular weight category. The next step is to wear
all your gears with maximum care and go up the bungee
pad-it may be a crane, tower, river bridge, or any other
place. All the equipments will be checked again and
you are ready to jump. Many thoughts may come to you
at this point of time and blood will be racing through
your body. You will be counseled about the final pre-jump
procedure and then dispatched from the jump station.
After your successful attempt, the personnel can retrieve
you either in a boat (if you are bungee jumping in a
lake or river) or you will be pulled up by using a rope.
After the successful jumping, you will be experiencing
the post-bungee euphoria in different ways.
PRECAUTIONS
Bungee Jumping may result in a wide
range of accidents as well as other related problems.
Most of the problems take place either due to faulty
equipment, lack of experience of the jumper, and inefficient
personnel manning the activity. There are some norms
and conditions that you are needed to see before going
on with your plans.
1. First, see that you are physically fit enough to
go in for the big jump. You need to be properly counseled
by your doctor and organizers about possible dangers
of participating in this sport.
2. Enquire about the event organizers and their past
record in maintaining safety standards.
3. Check all the bungee gears thoroughly for their quality.
Faulty cords and other equipments are the prime reasons
for bungee accidents.
4. Also check about the experience of the bungee masters
and whether they are qualified enough to conduct such
events.
5. Bungee site should be proper and free of any hindrance
that may create problem during the bungee process. Enough
space should be provided for the bungee jumping process.
6. First aid and rescue equipments should be handy and
the personnel must be qualified enough to handle any
accident.
7. At the last moment, if you think that you do not
have the courage to go down, tell this straightaway
to the bungee master.
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Delhi
