Bungee Jumping - The Jump Of Your Life

Ever since I came across Bungee Jumping, I've been fascinated by it and desperately wanted to do it. One of my dreams will come true in the next couple of weeks.

I'm doing a charity Bungee jump raising money for Cancer Research UK. It's a great way to do something I've always want to while helping a great charity.

Not satisfied with knowing what Bungee jumping is, I was keen to find out where it began and how it's become such a well participated adventure sport today.

Bungee jumping has evolved from an ancient ritual known as "Gkol" undertaken by young men from the Pentecost Island located in the Pacific Archipelago of Vanuatu. For any centuries men have been jumping from high wooden structures with vines tied to their ankles. They are trying to touch the ground with their heads to fertilise the soil for a rich yam harvest and to prove their manhood.

The ritual originates from a wife who climbed a banyan tree to escape her husband, she tied a vine around her ankles and when her husband climbed the tree to get her, she jumped off. The husband followed; unaware that his wife had the vine tied to her and fell to his death. The other men, fearing they could face the same situation began performing the ritual of Gkol to prove their manliness.

Inspired by a video of the "vine jumpers" performing Gkol at Pentecost Island, the four men making up the Oxford University Dangerous Sport Club (Alan Weston, David Kirke, Tim Hunt, and Simon Keeling) performed the first modern day Bungee Jump.

They jumped from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol on April Fool's day 1979, a simultaneous 4 man jump from of 245 feet. This was the first time a nylon braided; rubber shock cord was used, coming a long way from the vines used in the Gkol ritual.

The four men were promptly arrested but they gained notoriety for being the first people to perform a modern day bungee jump.

AJ Hackett was fascinated by the epic efforts of the Oxford University Dangerous Sport Club and set about developing the bungee cord technology.

He spent the large part of 1986 working with Auckland University to undertake extensive stress and loading test on the new generation of Bungee cords. He used the bridges in the North Island region of New Zealand to test the newly developed cords.

AJ moved to France to continue his jumping with his most notable jump being the illegal Eiffel Tower Bungee in June of 1987. The global exposure of Bungee jumping had further developed this new extreme pursuit.

Hackett, in 1988 created the world first commercial Bungee organisation which has grown massively in the past 20 years offering Bungee to people all over the world in plethora of amazing locations.

There are many amazing locations in the world I intend to Bungee but the top of my list would have to be Victoria Falls.

The Victoria Falls Bridge is located in No-man's land between the borders of Zimbabwe and Zambia. The area is truly spectacular but the prospect of Bungee-ing off the bridge, 111m, towards the Zambezi River is truly awe inspiring.

Are you a fan of Bungee jumping? Have you jumped before or are you intending to do so in the future? I'd love to share your experiences!

I did my first Bungee jump and it was amazing, watch the video above to see it from my perspective. Has this changed your opinion on whether or not you would jump?

Please let me know!