Bungee Jumping For The Sportsman
During the 1970s the well-known broadcaster Sir David Attenborough went to the Pentecost Island and encountered people who demonstrated their courage by tying vines around their ankles and diving from tall platforms.
Having seen this on television, Chris Baker of England devised an elastic rope for attempting a similar feat and in 1979 a bungee jump was made from the 250 foot Clifton suspension Bridge by members of the Oxford England Dangerous Sports Club. This was the first attempt at bungee jumping as it is known today, and it was this that gained the public interest as a potential sport.
It was in 1986, in New Zealand that Mr A.J. Hackett did his first jump. To gain publicity he then jumped from numerous structures, including the Eiffel Tower in France, and with this publicity he started the A.J. Hackett Bungy Company which has now expanded to locations around the world.
The basic jumping equipment consists of shock cords made from latex strands, however, to preserve jumpers safety, body harnesses are often used. Although there are variations in retrieving the jumper, the most common method is with the use of a mobile crane which quickly lowers jumpers to the ground after the jump.
Over water, which is in the case in Queenstown, New Zealand a boat is used to retrieve the jumper.
There are now different forms of bungee jumping, such as a Decelerated Descent, where the jumper is able to slow down to a safer and more comfortable landing speed.
The Catapult version is bungee jumping in reverse, as a jumper begins on the ground and with the aid of a crane shoots up into the air.
There are other versions which are quite different from the usual type of bungee jumping. In this, the person races along the track to see how far he can go before his pullback by the bungee cord.
The popularity of this sport has been increasing and is now popular throughout the world.
