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"Hey," Colin
says, "let's jump off of a perfectly good, solid structure, and risk
life and limb for a wild thrill!" (Please note that this may
not be an exact quote...) I shrug, "sure, why not? I have
long term disability insurance."
The Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho. 486' above the
water. We drove across the bridge before we could get out to have a
look over the edge... this didn't look so bad at all!
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The view from the
bridge. Perhaps it's a little higher than I'd expected... I'd
seen a couple of pictures, but that doesn't truly prepare you for the real
thing, for actually being there, looking over the edge.
I had agreed to this... was I insane?? This is what I had
consented to for my first jump?!
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I cannot begin to properly
describe the feeling as I awkwardly clambered onto the railing in
preparation to jump. "Holy... fuck..." was the only
thing I could muster. There was no platform or ladder; there was me,
the railing, and a helping hand. My legs were shaking, my knees
weak... my reach was restricted by the ankle harness, making it even
harder to fumble up onto the railing. Imagine, if you will, being on
the edge of an almost 500' drop; add to that the fear of slipping and
whacking yourself on the edge... The railing itself seemed to add
another 50'! Every truck that passed subtly bounced the bridge, and
every breeze was suddenly noticeable! |
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The deal was that
everyone would count down from five. If you didn't jump by the time
they hit zero, you owed the JumpMaster a six-pack. Well, I'd be
damned if that was gonna happen! "5..."
Jesus, that's a long way down "4..." Okay, deep
breath, crouch on two "3..." exhale and jump on
one "2..." fuck this! crouch and jump!
I prayed that I wouldn't panic, that I wouldn't start flailing about as
a previous jumper had; that, too, carried a penalty of a six-pack!
Hold the arms back, fall straight downwards, and remember to tuck at the
peak of the first bounce. Suffice it to say that I didn't end up
owing the JumpMaster anything.
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No one thought that B would
jump. I have to say, she's got more balls than most people I
know! This was her first time jumping as well! She seemed
really nervous, but handled herself like a pro... she looked like
she'd done this a few times before. |
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Being as light as she
was, B got quite a bounce! |
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There was no truck or
winch to pull us back up; we relied on the other jumpers for manual
extraction from our situation. A rope was lowered on a ring that
went around the bungee cord. Once we hooked ourselves in, the others
would haul us back up. This part, believe it or not, was almost
'worse' than the jump itself; spinning and dangling precariously by a
single clamp, slowly being pulled back up to the top... |
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Once near the top, we
had to be careful not to bump into the edge of the bridge. Let me
tell ya, it was a task and a half to let go of the rope in order to push
away from the bridge! |
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I had asked someone who
wasn't jumping to take pictures for us, but they hadn't realized that
Colin was part of our group; we, therefore, have no pictures of his first
jump... that's okay, cuz he went a second time. This time, however,
he went off backwards! |
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I cannot imagine...
to not be able to see what's coming! A completely different
experience, I'm sure... perhaps next time I'll try this, whenever
that may be. |
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