Henry van Asch (left) and AJ Hackett take a tandem bungy jump off Queenstown's Kawarau Bridge. Photo / John McGill
Henry van Asch (left) and AJ Hackett take a tandem bungy jump off Queenstown's Kawarau Bridge. Photo / John McGill
KEY POINTS:
Twenty years ago, two men made a leap of faith by setting up the world's first commercial bungy jump.
Yesterday, tourism pioneers Henry van Asch and AJ Hackett celebrated the milestone, and the huge growth in bungy, with another leap together from Queenstown's Kawarau Bridge - where itall began.
"Some thought we were mad and that we'd never last. Others thought it was a licence to print money," Mr van Asch said.
The bungy concept began with the people of Vanuatu throwing themselves from towers with vines attached to their feet in a manhood ritual that developed over hundreds of years.
This ritual inspired the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club to try experimental jumps in the 1970s and 80s, which in turn inspired Mr Hackett and Mr van Asch to develop their own Kiwi-style bungy jumps.
The first successful jumps were in Tignes, France, from a ski area gondola, then famously from the Eiffel Tower in June 1987.
"I think that initial scepticism has been replaced with respect, and later on even a bit of admiration," Mr van Asch said.
AJ Hackett's Bungy will tomorrow launch its newest venture, the Nevis Arc - the highest swing in the world.
