Bungy History
Bungy jumping finds its beginnings in a small island in the South Pacific named Pentecost Island, in the country of Vanuatu. The ritual of ‘land diving’ takes place before the harvesting of yams, in order to ensure good crops. The aim of the ritual was to ‘bless’ the soil by having a man touch his head to the ground, after a tremendous jump from a wooden tower.
Although several stories surround the origins of the ceremony, local legend follows the tale of a woman who, after she was repeatedly abused by her husband, climbed up the highest banyan tree in the forest to escape. Upon reaching the top, she mocked her husband’s cowardice and dared him to follow her, which he did. As he reached the top, the woman, who had cleverly tied vines to her ankles, leapt from the tree and landed safely below. Having failed to see the vines securing her feet, the husband also jumped, but in his folly, plummeted to his death. This event was eventually repeated by local men to prove their courage (although with vines tied to their ankles!), and soon became a ritual associated with the yam harvest.
After discovering this peculiar ritual in the 1970s, a group from Oxford called ‘The Dangerous Sports Club’ (loosely based around Oxford University) performed a series of experimental jumps, from which New Zealand bungy champion and entrepreneur AJ Hackett took his cue. In the 1980s, AJ Hackett popularized the sport in New Zealand, transforming Queenstown from a sleepy ski town into a world-famous adventure capital.
After testing and developing a number of bungy ropes with New Zealand scientists, AJ Hacket and his business partner Henry van Asch set out to demonstrate their strength in a promotional jump from the Eiffel Tower in 1987. They followed this up in 1988 by establishing the very first commercial bungy operation, on Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand. The history of bungy from this point became inseparable from AJ Hackett and Queenstown.
Initially, many people saw bungy jumping as just a fad, and in fact, it developed a reputation as a dangerous sport due to a small number of unreliable operators. However, thanks to the efforts of AJ Hackett and other operators who rigorously conform to standards and guidelines governing jumps (such as double checking calculations and fittings for every jumper), the sport is safer than ever, and has reached immense popularity across the globe.
Eighteen years later, AJ Hackett Bungy is now stronger and more profitable than ever before. Queenstown is not only home to a number of the world’s best bungy sites, but also shops, cafés and tours centered on bungy jumping. As a spectator sport, no outdoor activity can rival the excitement of watching jumpers challenge themselves with a bungy rope (and a great deal of courage). AJ Hackett’s original bungy jump site alone attracts over 200,000 people a year to the area just to see these brave bungy jumpers testing their mettle.
Once seen as an ‘extreme sport’, bungy jumping has come to represent personal challenge; a profound encounter with one’s own will. Although safety has advanced greatly, it still remains a daunting experience. For all these reasons and more, a growing number of people have discovered the thrill of the jump, along with its unique opportunity for self-realization.
