2023 Author: Katelyn Chandter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 13:08
As the rope jumpers themselves say, "extreme is the decoration of life, and not a way to part with it beautifully." Rope jumping is about jumping from a great height.
Well, where, where can a modern man get his adrenaline rush? Not for computer "shooters"! I really want a real drive, so that the blood runs faster, and an insanely joyful cry burst out of my chest … By the way, what kind of people are they shrieking from the bridge with wild screams ?!
Those who drive along Timiryazev Street in the evening must have noticed more than once on the pedestrian bridge people desperately throwing themselves down from the railing. The name of these strange people is rope jumpers, from the English. rope-jumping (rope - rope, jump - jump). Who are they and why do they do it, almost everyone who has seen the rope-dumpers at least once asks themselves.
"And I fly from the roof in a split second, but I live at this time!" - sings Chizh, and each rope-jumper can subscribe to these words. Exactly so - only a split second and often it is from the roof that rope jumpers fly. No roof? They fly from a bridge, from a GSM tower, from rocks … however, there are no rocks in Belarus: during the flight from the mountain, extreme tours to the Ukrainian Zhitomir are organized. But our bridges are quite worthy: starting from the already mentioned pedestrian one, 12 meters high, and ending with the highest bridge in Belarus: 38 meters from the highest point of the steel trusses of the bridge (this is an option for the most "advanced" ones).
Do not be fooled by the illusion of the simplicity of rope jumping: like any extreme sport, it is potentially dangerous. It only seems: "Well, what's so hard about it - tied the rope tighter, fastened the carbine …". In fact, for a safe jump, in addition to high-quality equipment, knowledge of physics and the basics of resistance is required. The old-timers of the rope, like the founder of this extreme direction, Dan Osman, started mostly with mountaineering. It was Osman who first approached the breakdowns (in fact, jumping on a rigid rope is a breakdown from the object, only planned and controlled) as an "adrenaline" pleasure, and not a critical situation. What does a climber feel when he falls down at a height of a couple of hundred meters ?! That's right: the happiness of being alive when the safety rope stopped his flight. So rope jumpers like to feel happy, but at the same time they give an opportunity to feel it to everyone who is looking for a thrill through the thought “A-ah-ah! I am alive !!”appearing immediately after the jump.
The man stands on the edge. Everything is checked and rechecked again. All is ready. Sounds: "Ready … set …. GO!" - and now a man is flying! Spreading your arms like wings, doing a crazy somersault or backward somersault. It is immediately felt: a person with experience, but first-timers usually fly with a wild cry, randomly swinging their limbs and, if they make some kind of somersaults, then completely unconsciously. By the way, in order to avoid emergency situations in the rope, there are strict rules of conduct, one of which says: “Obey the instructor. Even if you think he is wrong, follow the instructions unquestioningly. " Otherwise, there will be, at least, hands burnt on the rope and noses broken in a tandem jump.
The beauty of rope jumping lies in the fact that even though you intellectually understand the reliability of the equipment and the safety of the venture, it is extremely difficult to take a step into nowhere … The eyes see the ground in the distance in front of them, the legs feel the thin edge of the support, and the hands - they are not holding onto a rope, but behind a railing or a parapet, which must be released … And fingers never want to unclench. Even tough guys who have gone through fire and water do not always count "one, two, three!" let go of their hands, what can we say about girls - they can faint and faint. In addition to the fainted young ladies, every rope instructor has a dozen tales of jumpers who passed through his hands and ropes. By Andrey Black Angel (Live to Fly team):
- At one of the facilities - an unfinished building - they could not find a common language with the woman-watchman, who was already “well over 60”. She scolded us for what the light was on, and then she wanted to jump! And I jumped … or rather, I "threw it off"!
It sounds scary, but sometimes rope-jumping instructors, seeing that a person will break down and decide for the next 40 minutes, simply “help” him to jump. 100% of those who jumped then sincerely thank for this: after all, they themselves might not have had the courage to let go of their hands, and so - they got their portion of adrenaline and a sea of positive! For everyone who dreams of heights and craves a burst of adrenaline, but has not yet made friends with a parachute, rope jumping may well become an alternative to flying in reality, or even a passion for life: among Minsk roopers there are those who are well over 40.
So, the roof, the bridge, the GSM tower … Rope jumping instructors impose stations, the first raiders swagger aside and put on the roopers' safety systems. The first jump from an experienced rope-jumper, checking the reliability of the system, and the frightened-surprised exclamations of those who came for the first time: "Oh, but what, he has already flown away?" Finally, the first daredevil of the “newcomers” dares to put on the equipment and stands on the very edge - a second before the jump. Do you want to understand what a person feels the moment before stepping into emptiness? It is impossible to describe THIS in words - you can only feel it yourself!
Photo: Andrey Romanko