by Scott Coates

The world first saw bungy jumping (can also be spelled bungee) courtesy of Sir David Attenborough when he and a film crew visited Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, in 1950. They captured young men hurling themselves from a crude tower with vines tied around their ankles. The idea was to survive and prove one’s bravery, passing into manhood.
Fast forward 50 years or so and there are jumping platforms around the world. Every couple of years a new one opens as the highest, longest, from the highest helicopter, staking its claim in the record books for a couple years.

Greg takes the plunge at The Last Resort

I first jumped from the original commercial bungy at Kawarau Bridge in New Zealand back in 1992. At 43m high it was a mind bender and for whatever reason (I was young and stupid I think) I did it naked on a dare. Boy was my mom impressed!
Two days later a jump at the 102m Pipeline really blew me away. I grew up a bit and avoided long plunges for a number of years until living in Thailand in 2002 I was offered a free jump by one of our guides who was working at a bungy jump in Chiang Mai. I wasn’t interested (scared) but couldn’t say “no” to an employee. Many years went by and I found myself in Nepal after cycling through Tibet and Mt. Everest in 2006. We were cycling south from the Tibet-Nepal border and our guide mentioned we would see a bridge in 10km, to cross it and we would find our tented camp at The Last Resort. What he didn’t mention was that the bridge is a major suspension bridge, crossable only by foot and is 160m above a raging river. Talk about an interesting entrance to your lodgings. And the kicker – there’s a bungy jump from it.

Student using The Last Resort's bridge to return home

That evening we gazed at the bridge, contemplated the 140m plunge and one of our group of four committed to doing it the next morning. Having previously bungeed I thought I had a perfectly good out. I encouraged those who’d never done it to give it a go, truly believing that doing it from an outdoor structure in a beautiful setting was the way to go. Over breakfast the next morning my friend (not sure after this) informed me that he’d already paid for me to jump too. He wasn’t going to jump alone. I was terrified. You’d think after doing it once you wouldn’t be scared but that wasn’t the case. If anything I’ve been more scared each time I’ve taken the plunge (six times now). Just walking across the bridge is terrifying. Strapped in, double-checking with the Bungy Master (what a job title) that everything was good to go, I inched out onto the jumping platform. He started to chat with me, talking about how the countdown would work and all I wanted to do was get off that platform. Walking out on to it was very scary and once I was there I wanted it to be over – off I went. What a long fall. There’s time to think about things as you fall, dropping for almost three seconds before the cord kicks in. I’m told I screamed the entire way down.

The author contemplating life before a jump in Nepal

I’ve been lucky enough to return to The Last Resort a number of times while leading trips in Nepal and one evening chatted with the jump’s designer David. Back in 1999 he constructed the bridge for roughly $100,000US, truly an awesome feat, paving (or bridging) the way to his tented camp. It also had a great benefit for locals whose commute across was reduced from five hours to 30 seconds. David, co-developer Bishnu and some others built, tested, dropped weighted items from the bridge until it was time for a human to try…and David was that human. He survived and thousands have since taken the plunge, including a good number of Smiling Albino guests who’ve stayed at The Last Resort during the Nepal Trek & Trail.

While bungy jumping isn’t for everyone and I’m not sure I will do it again (it’s really scary), it is something every adventurous soul should try once. It will never get easier to throw yourself off a perfectly good bridge with a large rubber band around your ankles, but the rush is something that can’t be duplicated. The Last Resort’s bungy is without a doubt the highest I’ve been off and by far in the most beautiful setting. Let Smiling Albino take you there!