From
Japan Times:
Sky Tree to offer world's highest bungee jump
Tokyo's newest and biggest visitor attraction, the 634-meter-high
Tokyo Sky Tree in Sumida Ward, will open to the public on May 22. And if 11th-hour contract negotiations bear fruit, visitors to the Sky Tree
may soon have the opportunity to plummet 430 meters (over 1,400 feet) toward terra firma, in what is claimed to be the world's highest commercial
bungee jump.
More:
The jump was discovered after being inadvertently photographed by The Japan Times' sharp-eyed senior cameraman, Yoshiaki Miura, who was in the
neighborhood shooting night exposures of the new tower.
"I didn't notice anything at all until I uploaded the pictures into my computer the next
day," Miura said with a grin. "That's when I saw this grainy line across the computer monitor and I thought, 'Oh, damn -- something must
have streaked my lens filter.' I was going to delete the photos but then I zoomed in and scrolled all the way to the bottom, which is when
I realized I'd captured a bungee jumper in what looks like a Spider-Man costume."
When this columnist confronted the Sky Tree front
office with Miura's photographic evidence, the PR staff at first refused to confirm or deny this claim, stating the image on film showed
one of the nighttime cleaning crew who had fallen off a gondola and was saved by his safety harness.
Two days later, however, the
tower's operator phoned and provided off-the-record details of its negotiations with a concessionaire.
Because the project is still
tentative, it has been kept under heavy wraps. To maintain secrecy while the negotiations are underway, test jumps have been conducted in the
small hours of the morning, starting in January.
"The test jumps were made after midnight on nights when there was no full moon," says
Nobinaga Tobishima, acting manager of Botan Ltd.'s New Business Development Group. "The male and female test jumpers wore all-black, non-reflective
clothing resembling ninja costumes. We suspected it might have been possible to catch a glimpse of them, but only under ideal conditions."
Heh -- a bit more:
The operator also agreed to impose rigid safety requirements. Jumpers will be limited to healthy persons who have passed an
on-the-spot EKG (electrocardiogram), are aged between 18 and 45, and have a body weight of at least 40 kg. New-style bungee cables composed of
special carbon fiber materials, developed by Japan's aerospace industry, will be used, and jumpers will be fitted with special safety gear, including a
newly designed harness incorporating what is claimed to be the world's first gravity-activated airbag. In order to discourage late-night revelers from
taking the plunge, would-be jumpers will also be required to pass a breathalyzer test to indicate Blood/Breath Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is below
0.06 percent.
Jumpers will receive a commemorative certificate with their name inscribed and a T-shirt emblazoned with "Death-defying 430-meter
dive. I watered the Tokyo Sky Tree."
The price for being allowed to perform the stunt has yet to be determined, but will reportedly include an
injury and life-insurance premium. Jumpers will also be required to sign a form waiving liability beyond the amount insured.
That would be quite the ride. 9.3 seconds of freefall...