Terrifying videos show daredevils bungee jumping in the DARK
Would you bungee jump in the DARK? Scottish adventure center offers nighttime bridge jumps for daredevils who feel like ‘falling into the abyss’ (and video footage captures their screams)
Most people agree that traditional bungee jumping is a terrifying experience, but one adventure center has found a way to make it scarier than ever.
Highland Fling Bungee in Perthshire, Scotland, offers a hair-raising nighttime bungee jumping experience, with Instagram videos showing daredevils rampaging in pitch-black darkness.
In some clips you hear blood-curdling screams that disappear into the night. Commenting on a video, commentator “ansley” simply wrote, “You couldn’t pay me to do that.”
The jumping platform, located on Garry Bridge near the village of Killicrankie, is at a height of 40 meters (131 ft), with people falling from about 30 meters (98 ft) to 35 meters (115 ft) in seconds .
Speaking to MailOnline Travel, Operations Manager Laurie Thomas said the element that makes the bungee experience so terrifying is the feeling of “falling into the abyss.”
Highland Fling Bungee in Perthshire, Scotland, offers a hair-raising nighttime bungee jumping experience. Instagram videos show daredevils hurtling into the pitch-black darkness
People fall down about 30 to 35 meters in seconds
A statement from the center teases, “You don’t know where you’re going, how far you’ve fallen, or how far you still have to go.”
Those brave enough have two options. There’s the ‘Blackout Bungee’ experience, where people jump off a platform, and there’s the ‘Night Swing’, where they’re suspended from the air and then dropped into the night.
Thomas – who has been with the company since 2012 – says they introduced the experience to add something “different and exciting” to the center’s existing offerings of bungee jumping and ziplining.
Weighing whether it’s more terrifying for people to jump in daylight or in the middle of the night, he says: “I think being able to see the ground so close during the day adds an extra element of fear, but jumping in the dark is completely different. Not knowing what is behind the darkness is also exciting for many people.’
Emotions displayed before people jump off the purpose-built, permanent bungee jumping platform “range from sheer excitement and adrenaline to terrified of the unknown.”
Above is the view from Garry Bridge, near the village of Killicrankie, where the jumping platform is built
The bungee center’s operations manager says the late jump off the bridge (pictured) feels like ‘falling into the abyss’
The center recruits extra staff for the nighttime jumps as a safety precaution, and the nail-biting nighttime experience usually sells out
Sometimes people cancel at the last minute, but that doesn’t happen often.
And after they jump? People feel “pure joy,” says Thomas, and they are “often trembling with adrenaline.” He reveals: ‘Sometimes they want to do it again right away.’
Thrill seekers have fallen head over heels for the experience. Thomas says, “Since it only works a few times a year, we can usually sell out the experience.”
The jumps, which take place between 6pm and 10pm, are usually conducted in October and March, as “these months offer good conditions without being too cold,” and the center deploys extra staff for nighttime jumps, for an extra layer of safety.
The ‘Blackout Bungee’ experience costs £94 per person and is available for those over the age of 14. Visit bungeejumpscotland.co.uk.