Europabrucke Bridge Bungy

Europe 2017 Blog Day 5

(Ian) Well we awoke this morning to a sense of both excitement and nerves as it was the day we were booked in to do the Europabrucke Bridge Bungy Jump, and at 192m / 630ft high it was a biggie (in the world’s top 10 highest list for sure).

We had a quick breakfast in the bakery next to the hotel before setting off for a 2 hour drive to Innsbruck where we were due to register with the Bungy crew at 11:40am for a 12noon jump. On route we had a couple more rest breaks than usual ... must be those nervous bladders!

On arrival at Innsbrucke we approached the bridge and the bungy platforms quickly came into view before driving over the top of them, and we parked up at the service station next to the bridge.

We were a little early so dived into McDonalds to grab a quick coffee and sit down to contemplate how the next couple of hours would be and were both really excited now. We wandered over to the public viewing platform to spend a few minutes to watch some of jumpers in the distance and take in the amazing views.
In the registration office we signed in, completed the usual waiver form, got weighed, harnessed up, listened to the safety instructions, and watched a video about how we were going to be hoisted back up to the bridge after the jump and what we were expected to do.

It was time to make our way over to the Bridge so off we walked down a narrow fenced off pathway right beside the oncoming traffic on the motorway. We reached our gate number and climbed up a few steps to access the vertical ladder that we had to climb down (with camera gear in hand) to reach the Bungy Platform, which was un-nerving in itself as we were so high up and it was unassisted!

We were greeted by the crew and there were a handful of people waiting to jump, which gave us time to take some photos and Adrian very kindly secured his Bullet-Cam to my hand using gaffa tape as the crew were more than happy for us to take photos from the bridge and film our own jumps rather than paying for the use of their Go-Pro’s – it was all very relaxed.

I was told I was jumping 1st and Adrian 2nd and they attached my ankle harnesses and I took my position on the platform. Although this was my 12th jump I was just as nervous as all my previous ones – that feeling of ‘oh my god I’ve got to jump’ never goes away! 5...4...3...2...1 and off I jumped, yelling all the way down the 623ft drop. Well how was it? Intense, scary, exhilarating and awesome! As per the briefing, they lowered a cable down to me which I had to attach to my carabiner (all whilst dangling upside down). I was hoisted half way back up and was then lowered a bungy cord that I again had to attach to my carabina and was pulled back in an upright position to the top of the bridge. VIEW VIDEO

(Adrian) Just a side, when planning the trip, I started to read all the small print about the activities around January. It was then I realised I was OK weight wise for most of the trip highlights with the exception of one – today’s bungy. I was 12kg over their maximum weight, so decided to go a diet/exercise binge to see if I could get the excess off before the trip. I started on February 1st, cutting out bread and snacks and swimming 3 times a week, and ensuring a walk of a minimum 3 miles a day on the days in between. To help, I had a graph on my work computer desktop with a goal line from where I was to where I wanted to get to. Losing 1-4 pounds most weeks, I reached the target 3 weeks before the trip (a total of 26 lbs) and kept below the line the whole way but kept going right up to departure to ensure there was room for errors in our scales etc. On the day, I weighed in for the jump at 102kg, a full 15kg below my starting weight.

My jump? As per Ian above, except loved the jump down, hated the trip back up! VIEW VIDEO

(Ian) After leaving the bridge it was a short 10 minute drive to Serlesbahnen Mieders Ski Resort to do our 2nd Alpine Toboggan on the trip. It was very apparent on the cable car ride up to the top that this was going to be a much steeper Toboggan ride than our previous one. Also apparent was that we were not going to get a ‘no brakes’ run on this one as the queue was huge with it being a Saturday afternoon, and all the adults were taking their children on so were going to use their brakes so we knew we’d get stuck behind. Never mind, at least we were going to get to ride it. It was much stricter here and we were not allowed to take our camcorder / bullet-cam on to film (as we were at the previous resort).

Well, compared to our first Toboggan ride, yes it was a steeper ride and the tight corners were taken more comfortably, but the speed restrictors seemed a little harsh in places, added to constantly catching up with the person in front and not being able to film it left us feeling that we had a much better experience at the previous resort, and actually preferred the first Toboggan. Still good fun though and glad we rode it.

We are now heading to Germany and back to normality (a day in a theme park is normal for us). Auf Wiedersehen for now...

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