| Stunt Junkies | | | | neck if things weren't just right. Once the tests were |
| Reverse Bungee BASE Jump | | | | out of the way, it was off to Colorado to the Royal |
| | | | Gorge Bridge. |
| TMBA is the New York animation studio that created | | | | The guys wasted no time getting the impressive |
| the "physics behind the stunts" animations for | | | | bridge equipped with the bungee system. Jimmy and |
| Discovery Channels "Stunt Junkies" TV show. In this | | | | a couple "test" jumpers got over the rail and BASE |
| episode bungee jumper Jimmy Pouchert performs a | | | | jumped off the bridge. Everything looked fantastic |
| 1000 ft reverse bungee jump into a BASE jump at | | | | until one of the jumpers made some bad decisions |
| the highest suspension bridge in the United States. | | | | and had an extremely bad landing. Broken but OK, |
| >> | | | | we got the injured jumper to safety. |
| Jimmy Pouchert | | | | Everyone kept their cool and continued with the job |
| Reverse Bungee Base Jump | | | | at hand, and by the end of the day, the stunt was |
| Stunt Junkies | | | | ready. The only trouble was weather was also on |
| The only thing that I can say about Jeremy | | | | the way. In the morning, the weather wasn't looking |
| Pouchert's stunt is that it was amazing. Personally, it | | | | too good. With rain on the way, we did one last test |
| was one of the most stressful shows that I have | | | | with Doug on the bungee. |
| ever been on. | | | | Everything went well and as the rain started to fall |
| The team that Jimmy had put together to do this | | | | Jimmy made the call to go for it. He got set and |
| reverse-bungee BASE jump was remarkable. They | | | | before we knew it, he was being shot straight up |
| had definitely done their homework, and from | | | | into the sky! He cut away from the bungee, got his |
| preparation to testing to execution of the stunt, | | | | position, made a cool "wooosh," and deployed his |
| they were flawless. But this was a very dangerous | | | | chute. |
| stunt with no room for error, and every day we | | | | Perfect opening and excellent landing! The stunt was |
| showed up on set was a day that somebody could | | | | probably the coolest one I've seen â€" truly |
| get seriously hurt or killed. | | | | exciting and one for the books. |
| As the week went on with the weather constantly | | | | >> |
| threatening, Jimmy and his crew persevered. And on | | | | BASE jumping, also sometimes written as B.A.S.E |
| stunt day, with rain coming down and the | | | | jumping, is an activity that employs an initially packed |
| temperature dropping, Jimmy accomplished the stunt | | | | parachute to jump from fixed objects, as with |
| successfully. | | | | paragliding. "B.A.S.E." is an acronym that stands for |
| Jimmy has been a friend of mine for over 10 years, | | | | four categories of fixed objects from which one can |
| so I was especially excited to see him and to watch | | | | jump: buildings, antennae, spans (bridge), and earth |
| the stunt he had put together: a reverse bungee | | | | (cliff). |
| mixed in with BASE jumping at the highest | | | | BASE jumping grew out of skydiving. BASE jumps |
| suspension bridge in the states. We first met at the | | | | are generally made from much lower altitudes than |
| Auburn Bridge in Northern California, along with | | | | skydives, and a BASE jump takes place close to the |
| Jimmy's stunt coordinator Marty Tilley. | | | | object serving as the jump platform. Because BASE |
| We went to the bridge to do a couple of jumps and | | | | jumps generally entail slower airspeeds than typical |
| to test the reverse bungee system. Jimmy had | | | | skydives (due to the limited altitude), a BASE jumper |
| brought in professional bungee expert Doug Frutose, | | | | rarely achieves terminal velocity. Because higher |
| who has logged over 3,000 bungee jumps off nearly | | | | airspeeds enable jumpers more aerodynamic control |
| everything you can imagine. I was quickly impressed | | | | of their bodies, as well as more positive and quick |
| by the complexity of the system and how the crew | | | | parachute openings, the longer the delay, the better. |
| worked seamlessly together. | | | | Skydivers use the air flow to stabilize their position, |
| The amount of gear and hardware was hard to | | | | allowing the parachute to deploy cleanly. BASE |
| believe, but in no time we were watching the crew | | | | jumpers, falling at lower speeds, have less |
| hook up the bungees to the bridge and lower them | | | | aerodynamic control, and may tumble. The attitude |
| to the ground. They strapped in a set of tires | | | | of the body at the moment of jumping determines |
| weighing around 200 pounds to the system and | | | | the stability of flight in the first few seconds, before |
| tested the line with a pressure gauge, as well as | | | | sufficient airspeed has built up to enable aerodynamic |
| hooked up a dual three-ring cutaway system crafted | | | | stability. |
| by Marty. | | | | On low BASE jumps, parachute deployment takes |
| When everything was set, they cut the tires away | | | | place during this early phase of flight, so if a poor |
| and off they went. They would add and subtract | | | | "launch" leads into a tumble, the jumper may not be |
| bungee cables to either increase or decrease the | | | | able to correct this before the opening. If the |
| pressure. By the end of the day, they got the | | | | parachute is deployed while the jumper is tumbling, |
| pressure correct and Doug agreed to get strapped in. | | | | there is a high risk of entanglement or malfunction. |
| When he cut the system away, up, up and away he | | | | The jumper may also not be facing the right |
| went! You could tell by watching his body fling | | | | direction. |
| through the air that it would be easy to break your | | | | |