Bungee Jumping From a Lift in Southern California

People will jump off of most anything. Some call it suicide practice. One of the most famous places in the United States for bungee jumping is the Bridge to Nowhere, over the San Gabriel River, CA, Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower, the Superdome in New Orleans (which ended in fatality), hot air balloons but only one permanent bungee jumping site from a lift is located in Southern California. It is called the Devil Dive at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

  1. The Devil Dive

    • Jumpers are strapped into a harness on the ground and lifted 153 feet into the air think of jumping from a 15-story building. Compared to some of the more exotic and daring locations people bungee jump, it doesn't seem that high until you're dangling from the top of the crane. The harness can accommodate three people at a time and touted as a mix between bungee-jumping and hang gliding because of the arc (or swing of the ride) the jumpers experience when released from the top of the crane. The Devil Dive is located in Valencia, just north of Los Angeles. While it part of the overall park, they charge an additional fee for the ride.

    Hollywood

    • Bungee America is a private company that offers transportable towers with lifts to bungee jump wherever you choose. If you have the room in your back yard, you could set up one of their towers there. The company is based in Covina, east of Los Angeles, and markets its towers with the movie industry in mind, which makes a lot of sense since they're right up the road from the major motion picture companies. They call the transportable lifts, The Bungee Arch, standing at 140 feet high---the height of a 14-story building. The company is OSHA-approved and claims to be the only business approved to conduct jumps from the Bridge to Nowhere located in Angeles National Forest. The bridge was built in 1936 over the San Gabriel River and two years later the road leading to the bridge was washed away.

    Reverse Bungee

    • Bungee America also offers a reverse bungee ride, called the Rocket Launcher. It's like bungee jumping except that the rubber band slingshots riders 100 feet into the air in two seconds. The company claims a perfect safety record.

    Hot Air Balloon Bungee Jumping

    • Once frowned upon by the Federal Aeronautics Administration until 1991, the Federal Aviation Administration didn't allow hot air balloon bungee jumping unless the balloon was decommissioned for flight and tethered. They changed their regulations and now allow free-floating balloons to take along bungee-jumpers if they choose.

    OSHA

    • Not only was the FAA involved in bungee-jumping regulation at one time, but the California Occupational and Safety and Health Administration requires the inspection of the Devil Dive and Bungee America's towers,, whenever constructed. The fall may scare you but knowing that you're in for a safe landing is what allows it to be fun, as well. Unofficially, there have been only five recorded deaths from bungee jumping. Perhaps the best known occurred in 1997 when a 43-year-old female aerialist was to have bungeed from the top of the Superdome in New Orleans as part of the half-time show. During a practice run, the elastic chord was apparently too long and the woman struck her head on the Superdome floor and died. Needless to say, that part of the half-time show was canceled (it was to have included numerous other bungee jumpers, as well). Lesser known was that Frito-Lay Inc. canceled a commercial it planned for the Super Bowl telecast showing comedian Chris Elliott bungee jumping into a stadium to dip a chip into a bowl of salsa on the floor of the stadium.