What is cliff jumping?

[Guest 7Zach]

I read the threat of Brad San Diego and his death. Just what is cliff jumping; know rock climbing, but have never heard of this.

[Bilbo]

I hope that we get a good answer to this one. So far, the only two ideas I had had are A. cliff diving - diving off of a cliff into water or B. a variant of bungee jumping. But I have no idea which, if either, is correct.

[Barry]

It is simply jumping off a cliff into water...quarry, river, lake or ocean. It has become quite popular all over the world.

[Justice]

I just did a quick search for "Cliff Jumping" on http://www.dogpile.com and came up with the following link:

 

http://www.thedailyaztec.com/archive/1996/04/25/file008.html

[Guest TheOriginalMessage]

>I just did a quick search

>for "Cliff Jumping" on http://www.dogpile.com

>and came up with the

>following link:

>

>http://www.thedailyaztec.com/archive/1996/04/25/file008.html

 

 

Thanks for posting the link Justice. This is an accurate article.

[Rod Hagen]

I love cliff jumping. In college my friends and I would become very excited when the water at Taylors Falls became high enough to jump 'safely'. The highest cliff was about 35 feet high. We always "scoped" the landing area to make sure the water was in fact deep enough as it had been last year when at the same level, and also to verify that there was nothing floating below. Also, one of us always waited at the bottom, out of the way, to assist the jumper if he or she needed it after landing.

 

Nevertheless, it was against State Park rules and we had to dodge the park rangers.

 

Towards the end of college I was rock climbing in the North Shore area of Lake Superior. My friends and I watched some locals jump from a bridge over a tributary river, climb back up and do it again. We guessed it to be 55-60 feet up and they confirmed this. I strapped my Tevas on tightly, gathered my courage and jumped. As any freefalling skydiver will tell you time never passes so slowly as when falling. It's wonderfully sureal. And just when time seemed to have almost stopped completely the passing world exploded into WATERWOLD, and I was submereged. Fantastic.

 

My friend in San Francisco often jumps from a 75' precipice in Northern California. The water landing is so cold, even in the summer, that he wears a wetsuit (which cushions the impact a bit). I find this height intriguing.

 

Why do people take stupid risks? Mostly because it's pleasureable. Any other explanations are just rationalizations.

 

http://www.rodhagen.com

[Rod Hagen]

>Why do people take stupid risks?

> Mostly because it's pleasureable.

> Any other explanations are

>just rationalizations.

 

But sometimes tragedies like this make me re-evaluate my choices.

 

http://www.rodhagen.com

[Guest]

There are the famous cliff jumpers of Acapulco (and somewhat less famous ones of Mazatlan) who make a living off of this. Tourists watch and then give them tips. Some of them die every once in a while. They have to time the waves just right. I can see how someone's financial situation would be so desperate that he would do it. There's some severe poverty in Mexico. Considering the risks of not only death, but, perhaps worse, Christopher Reeves-type disability, I cannot understand why someone would do something like that for thrills. Bungee jumping should provide a similar rush, but with significantly less risk. I personally think there's something a little twisted with enjoying being within a split second of death...

[Rod Hagen]

>risk. I personally think there's

>something a little twisted with

>enjoying being within a split

>second of death...

 

 

Different Strokes for different folks. I have never jumped without scoping the situation out. Nobody I know who jumps would do so without doing what he or she can to ensure relative safety.

 

Now when I was a kid in Minnesota, we REALLY did some stupid things. Our method to check if the ice was thick enough was to walk out to the middle of the lake or river and then drop a rock between our legs or just jump up and down. If the ice cracked a bit it wasn't safe! Also, we would, god this is so dumb, we'd drag behind snowmobiles. No, I don't mean we'd ride in sleds or on innertubes attached to ropes attached to the snowmobile-though we did that too. We would lie on the ground grab onto the bar extending from the back of the snowmobile (we called them snowcats because of the Artic Cat brand; kinda like calling facial tissues 'Kleenex') put our heads down and tell the driver to HIT IT. Now that was stupid. Skitching (If you don't come from the Midwest you will NOT know what that word means) was for pussies. Come to think of it, surviving childhood in the midwest, growing up farming no less, and hanging on to all my original fingers and toes are probably my two greatest lifetime achievements.

 

http://www.rodhagen.com