TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/042390/0423260.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 3.7 KB | 78 lines

                                                                                SPORT, Page 75

The Ultimate Leap of Faith


In bungee madness, life hangs by a thread


    It beats just about everything for sheer hair-raising
excitement. It offers danger, exhilaration, suspense, terror and
fast-moving scenery. It is called bungee jumping, and it is the
latest sports craze among the young, particularly in California,
New Zealand and France. Many American TV viewers were introduced
to it last month by a controversial (and now discontinued)
Reebok sneaker ad that showed two men leaping from a bridge: in
the final scene, one jumper dangles safely from an elastic cord
while the other, wearing a different brand of shoes, has tumbled
out of them -- presumably to his death.

    Once known only to a handful of sky divers, mountain
climbers and other daredevils, bungee jumping -- the origin of
the name is unknown -- has spawned dozens of clubs in recent
months. One of the first, Bungee Adventures in California, has
already sent 8,000 thrill seekers over the edge. Although there
have been no fatalities reported in the U.S., two French jumpers
fell to their deaths last year when their cords severed, and a
third died after colliding with a tower.

    Enthusiasts maintain that the thrills outweigh the risks.
Jumpers leap headfirst from bridges, cranes and hot-air
balloons, from 90 to 300 ft. above the ground, with only a long
nylon-cased rubber bungee cord to break their fall. Anchored
around the ankles or to a body harness, the wrist-thin cord is
long enough to allow a few seconds of free fall before it
stretches, dampening the force of the plunge. The jumper
sometimes hurtles to within a few feet of the ground before
rebounding skyward like a yo-yo as the cord snaps back to its
original length.

    Bungee jumping is based on an age-old ritual practiced by
the "land divers" of Pentecost Island in the South Pacific
archipelago of Vanuatu. Every spring villagers there collect
liana vines and wind them into long cords. Young men then scale
high wooden towers, lash the vines around their ankles and jump.
A successful leap is considered a demonstration of courage --
and a harbinger of a plentiful yam harvest.

    The modern-day craze had its origins in 1979, when members
of Oxford University's Dangerous Sports Club, having read about
the land divers, put on tuxedoes and top hats and dropped from
the Golden Gate Bridge. Among early devotees were two brothers,
John and Peter Kockelman of Palo Alto, Calif., who in 1987 began
jumping from bridges over river gorges in the Sierras.
Recognizing the sport's commercial potential, they quit their
jobs as engineers and in May 1988 opened Bungee Adventures in
Palo Alto. Recently the Kockelmans introduced hot-air balloons
as jumping platforms. Every week 100 jumpers ranging in age
from twelve to 72 pay the Kockelmans $99 to leap from a tethered
balloon 150 ft. high.

    Since the sport requires no special skill or physical
conditioning, the challenge is strictly psychological. Veteran
jumpers like to tease newcomers by telling them it's not the
fall they should be afraid of, but hitting the ground. Some
participants describe the experience as "death survived." Susan
Steade, 27, a San Jose writer, made two jumps in the summer of
1988. Says she: "Skydiving was a lot less scary." Lance Colvin,
30, a computer specialist in Santa Clara, Calif., is a veteran
of 50 leaps. "You get sweaty palms, cotton mouth," he says. "But
the jump is one of the most elating feelings. It's more
emotional than physical." Successful jumpers invariably wear a
glowing "postbungee grin" reflecting a mixture of ecstasy and
relief.


By David E. Thigpen.