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FLYING SOUTH: Cape Times reporter Avery Carpenter bungee-jumps off the Bloukrans Bridge in Plettenberg Bay. The Bloukrans Bridge is the highest bungee bridge in the world, 216m above the Tsitsikamma River. Pictures: Face Adrenalin
Bungee jumping participants in SA have dropped dramatically following the near-death accident of an Australian tourist in Zimbabwe last month.
“Between 50 and 100 people who signed up have cancelled and have directly cited the Victoria Falls accident,” said Braden Touhey, general manager of the Bloukrans Bridge jump in Plettenberg Bay.
“We estimate that at least three times that amount have cancelled because of the accident but not cited a reason.”
The Bloukrans Bridge jump is operated by Face Adrenalin, a company that helped to set up the Victoria Falls bungee jump in 1993. In response to their involvement, Face Adrenalin’s website reads: “We no longer have any interest in this operation.”
“We are angry that Vic Falls has not cited a reason that the chord failed,” said Touhey.
“People are now under the impression that bungee jumping is dangerous. The public needs to know why this particular jump failed so that confidence can be restored in bungee jumping as a sport.”
Before soaring off the Bloukrans Bridge, jumpers are inundated with reassurances from the bungee crew.
They watch crew members tie the latex thread cords around their ankles and listen to a continued chorus of “you are completely safe here”.
Touhey said overt safety measures had always been protocol for Face Adrenalin.
“We are not just putting on an act after the accident. Safety first has always been our philosophy.”
Erin Langworthy, the Australian tourist whose cord snapped at Victoria Falls, told the US talk show Good Morning America that the jump operator gave her no warning that anything dangerous could happen. At the time, she said: “There was no warning.
“There was nothing.
“There was no oral instruction to be careful of anything,” she said of Shearwater Victoria Falls, the company through which she made the jump. Shearwater, however, said they have not had any cancellations since the accident. Clement Mukwafi, manager at Shearwater Adventures, said they were conducting an investigation. “We have suspended bungee activities for a week to conduct a full investigation. We should know what happened within a few days.”
Face Adrenalin, which is one of two bungee operators in SA, said they believe it was Shearwater’s fault.
“It comes down to negligence,” said Touhey.
“When you use a car often, the tyres get worn down.
“It’s the same with bungee cords – they get worse for the wear. Vic Falls may not have been changing their cords often enough.”
Touhey said Face Adrenalin changed its cords after 500 jumps regardless of the condition.
“We’ll change them after 100 jumps, though, if we need to.
They are under constant inspection.”
Getting a high from falling 216m – my one personal leap of faith
The breath caught in my throat before gravity caught up with my body. When I jumped off the Bloukrans Bridge this weekend, I flew, all physical laws disappearing faster than the beads of sweat pouring off my forehead.
With my feet tied and stride suspended, two jump operators man-handled me to the edge of the bridge. “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Jump!” the jump operator screamed. I plunged 216 metres towards the roaring Tsitsikamma River, my arms outstretched and my head soaring somewhere between elation and fear.
The cord recoiled, sending me back towards the bridge like a boomerang.
I bobbed upside down above the river for what felt like two hours, but in reality, it was only two minutes.
The Peter Luts and Dominico song What a Feeling blared in my head: “What a feeling, I can’t describe, wanna hold you till the morning light.” Before the jump, this song blasted on the bridge for me and the 15 other jumpers, to loosen our limbs and fill our heads with carbonation instead of calculation – a 216m drop and a seven-second fall are not flimsy figures to plug into one’s mind.
“Hey there,” said a voice above me. One of the crew members had descended to hoist me back up, a knight in shining armour, or more aptly, a sight in shining oblivion.
I grabbed onto him, not because I “wanted to hold him till the morning light,” as the Peter Luts lyrics proclaim, but because I wanted to make it back to the bridge.
Strangely enough, this was the most frightened I was the entire jump.
The man chuckled. “Relax, you made it.” he said.
I squirmed slightly and my cord got tangled in the rope tied around his waist.
“Oh, sh*t,” he said.
“Oh, well,” I thought, “There goes my life.”
I’m still standing, of course, as his expletive expressed frustration for a minor fault instead of a life-terminating problem. That is the nature of bungee jumping – nothing seems small and nothing seems precise. It is all in the feeling.
The smallest miscalculation, as we saw with the Victoria Falls accident, can shatter that feeling and make reality a dark place under a river instead of a high place inside the head. I jumped 216m, reaching a speed of 120km/h while hanging by a latex cord that can hold 3 ½ tons. All I remember about the experience, though, is the rush and its not-so-subtle suggestion that anything is possible. - Cape Times
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alex , wrote
Bungee jumped last year at blowkrans. Half an hour later had blood shot eyes and had to go to eye specialist to check for 'retinal detachment', a potentially blinding condition if not treated. Fortunately it was only burst blood vessels. In my opinion there's a lot of other risks apart from the risk of cord breakage, and really not worth it despite the adrenaline rush. Who knows what other side effects aren't mentioned, eg spine?
JFT, wrote
@Anon, it does pose some danger, obviously, but there are a lot of other sports that are more dangerous statistically. This incident just made it that little bit safer I'm sure.
Anonymous, wrote
"People are now under the impression that bungee jumping is dangerous" - Bradon Touhey. No kidding, Bradon. I can't believe you actually said that. If that is the kind of comment that bungee jump operators are capable of, there is even more reason to exercise one's choice to avoid this activity. If bungee jumping is not dangerous, or if it is not a dangerous sport, then I would like to hear Bradon's definition of what constitutes a dangerous sport.
JFT, wrote
This just got a whole lot more appealing to me. imagine the extra adrenaline running through you when you think back about this story while you are standing on that bridge locked and loaded!
JFT, wrote
to me, wrote
@me - a suggest a lesson in physics would be appropriate. The cord itself acts as a spring thus you do not stop instantly at terminal or near terminal velocity. When the slack is taken up by the cord, you rapdidly decelerate and the cord expands so it is not like taking a ball at 120 kmh.
me, wrote
I wonder if anyone has studied the brain damage incurred by doing this "sport". Your brain is suspended in a fluid - the meninges layers. The amount of momentum it develops at 120kph is enormous - remember it's about 1-1.5kg. So imagine, then, that it's like having a small melon, or a few cricket balls, moving at that speed - inside your skull. Now, the top of your inside of your skull is serrated with sutures that join the skull bones. Do you think a few mm of fluid are going to stop a few cricket balls moving at 120kph from squishing against the sutures? Bad idea. I'm pretty sure you lose a few IQ points every time.
Anonymous, wrote
It would be very helpful if you got your facts right. The accident happened in Zambia not Zimbabwe
worsjakkals, wrote
jumper, wrote
I have done it 4 times and it is the best thing EVER! The team that run it are very professional and not once did I fear for my safety. This is a must do experience, it even helped me deal with my fear of heights. I endeavor to do it every time I have the opportunity... AMAZING SENSATION!!
Anonymous, wrote
I went off peak season to Vic Falls to bungee jump and when i got to the 2 attendents operating the jump.....in middle of bridge....they stood up and had beer cans around their feet.... i said no thanking and walked off
Guy Thornton, wrote
“We are angry that Vic Falls has not cited a reason that the chord failed,” said Touhey. Maybe it was The Lost Chord
Anonymous, wrote
After having jumped Bloukrans late last year, I can say that their safety talk before the jump, and the way the whole operation was handled, was very safety orientated. This was before the whole Vic falls issue.
Viv, wrote
Jacques, wrote
I jumped of the Bloukrans bridge around 2000ish. Having a fear of heights, this was just one thing to tick off my bucket list. The best and only recollection of the event was when the guy coming down to take me back up tapped me on my shoulder. When I managed to open my eyes, he smiled and said "Welcome to my office". It is the office with the best view in the world. I forgot about getting sick for 10 minutes. mosto
Bianca Mpahlaza, wrote
I don't know what's funnier: the fact that Keith misspelt cocoon to insult Analyst or that Analyst took on the same spelling to defend himherself.
ET1, wrote
The Australian says no-one had warned her that anything could go wrong. You were jumping off a bridge! And even if somebody did warn you beforehand, what would you have done? I really feel for you because you had to go through this, but really?!
Analyst, wrote
Keith, I do not live in a cucoon, I simply try not to take unnecessary risks. Bungee jumping sits on top of my list of unnecessary rists - your insurers will tell you the same I am sure. You pay more premiums if you are a bungee jumping fanatic, you know. And yes, planes crash but I still fly a lot. Bungee cords snap and I don't do bungee jumping, nor do I scale high rise buildings!
Ash K, wrote
Best to do these things when you're over 70. That way, if things go wrong, all you'll miss out on is 10 years in a retirement village or old age home worrying about your next bowel movement or when you are next supposed to take your medication.
Keith, wrote
@ Analyst, you seem to be that type of person who lives in a cucoon, all safe and snug, never do anything, oh my! please don't walk acroos the street...... a bus could hit you. Live life dude, enjoy the rush and experience life has given you, when your time to die comes, you will die, no matter what, so enjoy, that bus could still be out there that will hit you, or is it a snapping bunjee rope that will kill you. LOL
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