What is Bungee jumping?
Bungee jumping is a sport that involves jumping from a tall structure (such as building, bridge or crane) with an elastic cord, attached to the jump site, tied to one's feet. After a period of head-first free fall, the jumper is bounced partially back when the cord rebounds from its maximum stretch. The thrill comes from the free falling and the rebound.
The origin of this daring activity can be traced to a 1500 year old annual ritual called 'land diving', practised by the Bunlap tribals of Pentecost Island in the Western Pacific, between Australia and Fiji. In this ritual, men jump off a 90 ft log tower with vines tied to their feet. A test of raw courage, this ritual is performed without safety nets. Legend attributes its origin to a Bunlap woman who climbed a banyan tree to escape from her cruel husband who was pursuing her. She jumped down and landed unhurt, as she had tied vines to her ankles to break the fall. Unaware of this, he followed in pursuit, only to fall to his death.
Bungee jumping as we know it today, started when four members of the Oxford University Sports Club jumped off a 250 ft suspension bridge in Bristol on April 1, 1979, inspired by a BBC documentary about the Bunlap land divers. They were arrested by the police, but their feat made headlines, and thus a new adventure sport was born. Interest in the sport quickly spread in the U.S.A. and New Zealand. It was first offered commercially to the public in the late 1980s by A. J. Hackett, a New Zealand entrepreneur who developed a super-stretching elastic cord and demonstrated its use by jumping off the Eiffel Tower. Hackett created numerous bungee jumping sites and became the world's first commercial bungee operator.
Since then, millions of successful jumps have been performed, not just from from fixed structures such as bridges, towers and cranes but also from movable objects such as hot air balloons and helicopters.
Over the years, bungee jumping has matured into an experience that provides thrill without too much serious task.
