Recently I got an opportunity to do Bungee jumping at Whistler, Canada. I would like to share my experience about this adventure sport.
Two days before the scheduled trip to Whistler the bungee talk caught fire. All those who had balls decided to do it. I happened to see some of the videos in the WhislterBungee site. That created the temptation to do it. The scenery was awesome. I could n’t imagine how it would feel to fall from 160 feet! A strange thing to imagine though… But one of my friends who was hesitant to do the jump decided to divert us and started pouring all X-facts about the jump like people get cardiac arrest, people suffer brain haemorrhage after the jump and stuff.
Then I decided to study about the jump and got the following facts :
A bungee jump can be separated on three different stages: Free fall, Body deceleration, and Upward movement.
First Stage – Free fall . During this stage, all jump stress hormones, like beta-endorphin, growth hormone, prolactin, testosterone,and adrenalin , are supposed to be released.
Second Stage – Body deceleration. A sudden body deceleration occurs because the elastic property of the cord ( Hook’s law- F=KX) . The intensity of deceleration depends on the kind of cord used and the altitude of the jump.
Third Stage- Upward movement. It is characterized by an upward movement in a head-down position. It is responsible for a further increasing in intrathoracic and head blood vessels pressures.
All the facts and videos I saw increased my temptation to do the jump and so I decided not to regret my decision and enjoy it instead. All is well :p
The next morning we reached Whistler and took gondola ride to snow peaks, played with snow, toured the Whistler village and stuff. Finally the tour operator took us to the bungee site.
Before doing the jump they handed out a declaration form which I had to sign before doing the jump. It seemed like a printed suicide letter !! But I was confident (or crazy!) to sign it. After that they prepared me for the jump. They bound my body with two belts .. one for the chest and one for the waist .. Finally attached the jump chord (which was quite huge in thickness) to the clamp and asked me to get ready for the jump. I was the first one to go among my friends and they were holding the cameras ready to capture the action.
The jump operator carefully asked me to step to the jump spot and look down. My heart was beating through my eyes.. Hands became cold.. Head became heavy… But mind was still clear with the decision to jump.. I felt some small insects flying around inside my stomach and sweat dripping in my forehead.
I don’t know how but my lips automatically uttered “I ‘m ready for the jump!” .. The operator counted 3..2..1.. and swiffffff………………..
After the first two seconds, I was falling down like a bird whose wings had betrayed it…. Skin was tearing against the acceleration and my brain dint even have time to react with fear!!!
I rapidly reached to the bottom of 160feet depth jump and stretched the string to full length.. Then I rebounced up and down twice during which I spent all my energy shouting and screaming!
After the cycles were complete the operator pulled my rope up and helped my heart gain back its beats!!
No more words to descirbe the experience here is a video!
Cheers
Vidh
raavan speaks 