Jump to glory

bungee jump is the ultimate adrenaline rush a man can feel. But, there’s more that Jumpin Heights is offering in Rishikesh.

Three hundred feet below your feet is the river that snakes across the valley. Toy cars traverse the roads, and little men wander. Nature whispers it will take you. But, the moment you step off that platform, it all disappears. A moment of calm and serenity takes over with the fall.

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It feels like a lifetime, but as those ten seconds end, exhilaration follows. Adrenaline rushes to the brain, and the screams echo across the mountains. “The bungee feels like a total loss of control. The first six seconds you are scared out of your mind, but then you begin enjoying it,” says Yamini a dentist from Jammu taking the plunge for the ninth time.

As a host of young Indians take to extreme adventure sports, bungee jumping in Rishikesh has emerged as a favourite adventure activity. A short drive away from the bustling town is a facility set up by Jumpin Heights, one of the few extreme adventure sports facilities in India.

“Of late, a new category of youngsters looking for an adrenaline rush are coming to Rishikesh with a different purpose. As hostels in the area grew in number, so did their budget for extracurricular activities,” says Yogi Rawat, Marketing Executive at Jumpin Heights.

Rishikesh has always been known as the penultimate adventure destination and has been a base for white water rafting and other adventure sports. Jumpin Heights has joined the club and is offering extreme adventure sports activities like Flying Fox, Bungee Jumping and Giant Swing. Their cantilever bridge, which is an hour’s drive from Rishikesh, is the base for all adventure activities. At 83metre, it is India’s highest bungee jump. The Flying fox allows one to zip line at a speed of 160 km/hr. The Giant Swing can be done solo or in tandem and is touted to be as thrill inducing as the bungee.

“The bungee for me was basically 20 seconds of screaming. You are only conscious of your breathing and to be honest, it was not a near death experience. It is an incredible feeling to know that you have completed it successfully as it is one of the things you can cross out of your bucket list,” says Sandeep, a participant from Delhi.

There is no dearth of adrenaline junkies who come here from all over India for a once in a lifetime experience. “I had done the bungee jump in Pune prior to this jump. The draw was that Jumpin Heights is India’s highest bungee platform. The staff here is skilled and professional and they motivated me to do the jump. I was so comfortable that I just closed my eyes and jumped. I also tried the Flying fox and Giant swing and found the latter to be scary,” says Sainath Reddy, a software engineer from Bengaluru.

While most brave hearts book their slots online, there are some that are motivated to try the jump once they see others doing it. “I had come with three of my friends, and had no plans of doing the bungee jump. But when I saw many girls were doing it, I decided to try it too. It was very thrilling and dangerous activity. We were reassured by the presence of a professional crew,“ says Purushottam from Bengaluru.

Thought first time participants are often awestruck by their first bungee experience, it is not any less thrilling when done a second time. “Bungee jumping does not get any easier the second time around. Even though I have jumped many times, I still feel nervous before a jump,” says Devendra Singh, Operations Manager at Jumpin Heights.

“I think it does get easier if you have participated in the activity once. If you do it once or twice, then you are more mentally prepared to do it in future. I have jumped multiple times and now plan on doing sky diving,” says Sainath.

Jumpin Heights is one of the new crop of companies that conduct adventure sports in an extremely safe and professional manner. They have a record of zero accidents, and have built a good reputation in a short span of time. Devendra adds, “In 2010, when we started, nearly 10 per cent of people froze before they could jump down. Today, only 3-4 percent back out. Sometimes, over 60-70 people jump in a day and quite often we are overbooked. Bungee jumping is conceived as a safe and popular sport and we have people participating from all over the country and abroad.

From the November 2018 issue of FHM India.