Adventure Tech: EXTREME! Bungy Jumping Edition

Technology in adventure sports has come a long way in recent years. I never realized how safe and comfortable it could be launching 216 meters straight toward the ground.

Independence Day, 2010. As I stand atop the Bloukrans bridge outside of Plettenberg Bay, my mind races to justify why I am jumping off of this extremely high platform. If anything goes wrong, I plunge to certain death.

I spoke with FACE Adrenaline owner and bungy innovator AJ Hackett, to ask a few questions about his unique bungy setup. Hackett was the first to create commercial bungy jumping and even hurled himself off of the Eiffel Tower in 1987, so I figured he was a good guy to talk to about the safety and to hopefully settle my stomach.

"We use a special, custom bungy attached to the back side of the bridge to create a pendulum effect decreasing whiplash effects."

He also said that there have been 4 deaths in the 13 years they’ve been operating(it scared me as well to hear this) then he went on to say, “2 suicides, and 2 car accidents above the jump site--so its 100% safe.”

FACE Adrenaline suit you with a full body harness and backup carabiner used in case the bungy for some reason comes free from your legs. The Bungy that Hackett has perfected over the years is constantly honed to increase comfort and minimize chance of injury--a bit different than the vines used by the indigenous of Vanuatu. Hacket uses his own custom, unbraided cords in which the latex strands are exposed. These give a softer, longer bounce and can even be produced at home--I'm not saying you should create your own, but its possible. Many other bungies are made from factory produced, braided cords with a tight outer cover for a shorter bounce.

The rush from this is unreal. My brain had no idea why the earth was coming so fast!

With a friendly and encouraging staff, I felt safe and had a great experience that I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy! EXTREME!

Jabulani: Celebration for whom?

Before the World Cup, the Jabulani was introduced by Adidas citing their blueprints for what was to be the roundest, most accurate ball to date. Every four years they say this and every four years there are complaints. This is the first time that as a fan, I could actually see what the disgruntled players are talking about.

Skyrocketing ball after ball is prevalent when watching an under-16 youth league match, but its hard for me to believe it when players such as Messi and Fernando Torres are missing routine goals by launching them meters over the bar. As for the ones that actually do go in, they look like they completely change trajectory in the air, dipping, diving, and hitting the net, but seemingly not where the player wanted it to go. (eg. Schweinsteiger’s shot leading to Muller’s goal vs. Uruguay in 3rd place match)

Some people I generally trust about scientific research, NASA, agree that this ball is very unpredictable (Watch this video from "4-4-2") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFX7laMy3q4&feature=player_embedded

With all of Adidas’ AeroGrooves and thermally bonded panels, the ball just doesn’t seem normal. In trying to create a sophisticated and intelligent ball, it really took away from the fact that players don’t normally play with a ball like this and we’ve seen it be very difficult to control...not to mention it skipping away and out of bounds during many through ball attempts.

While I like to think that these players are good enough to play with any ball, and we’ve seen that to an extent they can, why doesn’t Adidas just stick to what they know and not make it such a controversy before, during and after each cup?