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What is Bungee jumping ?
Bungee jumping (pronounce as
b-u-n-j-i-e) is a sport where the person or participant jumps
from a very high place with one end of an elastic rope tied to
the ankles (usually) and the other to the point from he takes
the dive. When the participant takes the plunge, the elastic
thread stretches to the maximum limit to adjust to the energy of
the fall; however, when the thread snaps back, the participant
is thrown upwards. So, he or she continues to oscillate for the
time till the initial energy of the plunge wanes off.
The origin of bungee jumping
Hmm! So, you see it is quite an adventure to be a part of such a
electrifying experience.
So, what is the origin of this game? The opinions vary in this
context. According to a legend, the first bungee jumping can be
traced back to almost fifteen hundred years ago when it was
first attempted by a tribal lady. The story goes like this –
this young (I am sure it is difficult for an elderly lady to
make this endeavor) woman was followed by her mate who was
chasing with murder in his eyes. The poor victim was no match
physically for that huge assailant and hence had no option but
to use her intelligence to save her life. The girl was climbing
a banyan tree and when she reached a point from where she could
not move any further, she sought the last resort. She tied the
long vine that was woven throughout the tree in her ankle and
jumped down – and was eventually successful in escaping from the
monstrous grips of her enraged mate.
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The word ‘bungee’ was first used in
the year 1930 for rubber eraser. About two decades later, a
video clipping of a group of young men displaying their courage
by jumping from very high wooden towers with vines or cords tied
to their feet (ankles to be precise) was aired by the British
Broadcasting Corporation. These ‘brave’ young men were called
‘land divers’ who belonged to the Pentecost Island in the New
Hebrides. In this ‘game’, the young men would actually climb
towers as high as 80 feet, strap vines around their ankles and
finally take the plunge. A few years later, some students from
the University of Oxford modified this version, by replacing the
vines with elastic cords and named themselves as the Dangerous
Sporting Club.
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The modern day bungee jumping
happened on the first day of April in 1979. A team of four,
adventurous young guys, led by David Kirke, from the Dangerous
Sporting Club, had taken the dive from a height of 250 feet at
the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. Though there was some
resistance towards this sport initially, when David was arrested
by the police, nothing much could be done to stop this. David
continued with his dangerous jumps from the Golden Gate and the
Royal Gorge bridges and bungee jumping started becoming hugely
popular. By the early 1980s, this became so popular that players
started jumping from hot air balloons and mobile cranes and was
used for a variety of commercials.
Commercial bungee jumping was performed by one A.J. Hackett from
New Zealand in the year 1986 from the Greenhithe Bridge in
Auckland. Hackett’s popularity soared heights and he started
performing from bridges and other tall structures including the
Eiffel Tower. Till date, Hackett remains extremely popular for
his daring act and is considered to be one of the largest
commercial operators in Bungee Jumping.
Hazards associated with bungee
jumping
As evident, a lot of dangerous injuries can happen during the
jump. To start with, the player may face severe injury if the
safety harness gives away, if the elastic chord used is
misestimated or if the cord is not properly connected to the
point from where the happens. One more injury, that had been
fairly common, is the entanglement of the cord with the
participant’s own body. Besides, the other injuries that might
occur include the following:
• Spine or back injury
• Fractures
• Eye trauma
• Various cuts and wounds
• Displacement of some bones
• Rope burn (Abrasion generally on the hands, that is caused by
friction from a rope)
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It is therefore very important to be
extremely careful before taking such a call. If you want to try
this game out, please ensure that the equipment used and the
location or place from where you intend to jump is well taken
care of. Personally I would recommend a professional advice to
check whether physically, both your age and weight, you can do
this without any worries.
Nevertheless, millions of bungee jumping incidents has been
happening since 1980 without any accidents and faults. This is
primarily because, the jumpers and the authorities have taken
precautions to ensure that the harness or the cord are
absolutely safe. Besides, they have also followed all the rules
and regulations governing the jump with utmost care. Of course,
small bruises or cuts may occur; the aim is to ascertain that
fatal accidents are avoided at all costs. It has been seen that
the most common mistake that happens in very serious accidents
is the use of very long cords. Ideally this elastic cord must be
smaler than the jumping platform so that it can stretch to the
maximum limit. |
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Some bungee
jumping instances
• The famous Bond movie, Golden Eye (1995) uses bungee jumping from
a Russian dam. Interestingly this jump was real and not created by
any special effect.
• The character Trevor from the popular teleseries, The Fresh Prince
of Bel-Air, was killed during a bungee jump that was being telecast
live on television. Trevor was proposing to his girlfriend, Hilary
Banks.
• The program, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, telecast on BBC, was
abruptly stopped after its stunt person Michael Lush was killed
while practising for a bungee jump.
• Laura Patterson, a professional bungee jumper, was killed in 1997,
after she had taken a plunge from the top of the Louisana Superdome
with incorrectly handled equipments. Laura was rehearsing for the
show during the Super Bowl XXXI; she died because of a massive
cranial trauma.
Bungee jumping world records
• The highest bungee jump has been recorded at the Bloukrans River
Bridge in South Africa. The person had taken the dive from a height
of 709 feet. (source – The Guinness Book of World Records)
• Another jump had taken place from Colorado’s Royal Gorge Bridge in
the 2005 Go Fast Games. The platform used was as high as 1053 feet.
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Article Contributed By: Sukanya
Banerjee
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