Bungee jumping is an extreme sport in which a person jumps from a tall structure — a bridge, crane, building, or specially constructed platform — while attached to a large elastic cord. The jumper freefalls until the cord stretches, then rebounds, bouncing several times before coming to rest.
The modern bungee jump originated in New Zealand in the 1980s, developed by entrepreneurs A.J. Hackett and Henry van Asch. They adapted the traditional land diving** ritual of Vanuatu’s Pentecost Island, where men leap from wooden towers with vines tied to their ankles as a rite of passage and agricultural fertility ritual.
Why It Matters
Bungee jumping became the defining adventure tourism activity of the 1990s. Hackett’s jumps from the Eiffel Tower (1987) and other landmarks turned the sport into a global phenomenon. It represents the commercialization of traditional ritual into mass entertainment — a pattern repeated across extreme sports.
The psychology of bungee jumping is equally interesting: the voluntary surrender of control, the moment of commitment at the platform’s edge, and the body’s terror response colliding with conscious choice. For many, it’s a controlled encounter with mortality.
Examples
- Kawarau Bridge: The original commercial bungee site in Queenstown, New Zealand (1988).
- Macau Tower: At 233 meters, one of the highest commercial jumps in the world.
- Pentecost Island: The ancestral tradition that inspired the modern sport.
Related Terms
- Extreme sport, adventure tourism
- Elastic cord, freefall, rebound
- Land diving, Vanuatu, rite of passage