How Bungee Jumping Will Change Your Life

That’s what the godfather of bungee jumping, AJ HACKETT, claims the sport will do for you.

- Cheryl Ong

WHO IS HE: Alan John “AJ” Hackett, 59, the godfather of bungee jumping-cumcreator of the bungee jump. It all started in the ’80s when the then-builder came across a centuries-old ritual in the Pacific island of Vanuatu where men threw themselves off 35m-high wooden towers with vines tied to their ankles to ensure a good harvest. Later on, he met fellow Aucklander Chris Sigglekow, a video editor who had seen footage of young Brit men from the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club doing the Vanuatu jump, except from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The pair went about testing if they could make the sport safe. Several plunges later, AJ decided to take bungee jumping to a whole new level — by leaping off the Eiffel Tower in 1987. That headline-making, illegal stunt landed him behind bars briefly, but introduced the sport to the world. A year later, he founded the world’s first commercial bungee site in Queenstown, New Zealand, and went on to turn the sport into a global phenom. Three decades and nearly four million jumps later, his bungee empire continues to grow. His adventure company AJ Hackett International offers adrenaline-pumping activities like bungee jumping, sky walking and swings in six cities across the world, including New Zealand, Russia, France, and now, Singapore. AJ was recently in town for the opening of the $12mil thrill attraction in Sentosa Island, which houses the Lion City’s first bungee jump overlooking the scenic Siloso Beach.

8 DAYS: How many times and places have you bungee jumped at?