CAMPUS / AREA
University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, April 21, 1992
3
Vertical Addictions offers excitement to thrill-seekers
By Cody Holt
Kansan staff writer
Less than a half hour after Don McSpadden's first jump, he was back for more.
McSpadden, of Edgerton, was one of more than a dozen first-time jumps Saturday taking advantage of Vertical Addictions Inc.'s second week of operations at the Johnson County Fairgrounds in Gardner.
He said that as soon as he heard that the price for bungee jumping decreased by $10 with each set of jumps, he rushed home and got the money for two more jumps, which cost $79 instead of the regular price. $89.
"It's a different feeling from anything I have ever done," he said. "It's difficult to explain. It takes everything away from you for a minute. I'm adaddied."
He said he planned to jump every weekend this summer until he got his jump price down to $20, which is the lowest price Vertical Addictions will allow. He will be back Saturday when Tim Hippin, owner and operator of the Los Angeles-based bungee company, plans to raise the crane height by 30 feet.
Melanie Leavey, of Mission, said she and her husband, Mike Leavey, were risk takers. She said that they had skydived before but estimated that bungee jumping was twice as thrilling as skydiving.
"It's like the ultimate roller coaster magnified 100 times." she said.
Mike Leavey, who jumped directly after his wife, said that his biggest fear was that the bungee cords would break.
"It scared the piss out of me," he said. "It was a great feeling though—it
Kevin McNally, promotional director for Vertical Addictions, said that one third of all bunge jumpers were women.
was the ultimate rush."
"I'm a psychopath, man," he said.
"At our pace in life we may not be here tomorrow anyway."
Brian Malcolm, one of the more enthusiastic jumpers Saturday, paced the jump site with a bullhorn heckling his friends after he had completed his jump.
Malcolm said that, along with all of the other first-time leapers, he would be back to jump again.
Malcolm, of Kansas City, Kan., said that as soon as he heard about the new site, he and his friends knew they had to try it. He said, however, that it helped to be a little crazy.
"You only live once and you can't take it with you." he said.
Jumps provide emotional high
Continued from Page 1
adrenaline is 100 times more intense than the moments before my first speech in Coms class. For a moment I felt like I'd become Dan before a championship game.
About to jump. I feel as though everything I have done in life has led to this one day.
"One . . . " There is no turning back — one last, deep breath.
And I do, without hesitation
Free falling for what seems like forever but is actually only two or three seconds, I feel very heavy. I'm not sure what G-force is, but as I speed toward the ground I think I experience it.
Although I am now 50 feet below my starting point, my stomach is still up in my chest.
I am out of control. Falling backward, as McNally says, is worse than falling forward because I don't know what will happen next. I am clueless to the world around me, and the ground below me, however close it may be.
I bounce a few more times and the jump is over.
Suddenly the rope begins to slow me, and with a minor jerk I am heading up. There are no longer any forces pulling me to the Earth. I am totally weightless and totally free. A smile replaces my grimice.
Hanging in the air after a successful jump, there is a feeling that no obstacles are too tough to overcome
"Perfect jump, man!" MeNally yells in encouragement from my former roost. "How was it?"
I smile and give him the thumbs up. He smiles back and returns my gesture, knowing he has converted another thrill-seeker into a bungee jumping fan.
This is probably the hardest question
I've ever had to answer.
"The second jump is usually the hardest, "McNally says as we near the tip of the crane for the second time. In a way, he is still encouraging me, letting me know that I can handle another jump because now I am a veteran jumper.
As I step to the jump platform, this time facing forward in preparation for a swan dive, I experience the same rush of adrenaline. This time, however, I concentrate on the jump, I want to consciously enjoy every second.
"Three. two. one. Jump!" I hear the familiar cry from what I now consider envious onlookers.
T see the ground rushing at me.
Again, Heel out of control, failing to
the KR.
This time, however, despite the Earth's pressure, I smile. All at once, the face brightens and satisfaction, as though I am looking death in the face but being ripped from
his grasp as he reaches to take my body.
"That was perfect form, dude!" McNally yells down to me.
A sign at the entrance to the jump site explains to any non-believers why I, or any other of the 900,000 Americans who
Twice now I have lived life to the fullest, experiencing the entire spectrum of emotions in less than 10 seconds.
Tim Hoppin (above), the owner of Vertical Addictions Inc. makes an exhibition jump. Patrick Henderson (left), the Vertical Addictions crew member, reaches the recoil point.
"The risk is part of what makes it bungee jumping;" the sign reads. "Risk
have bungee jumped, would take such a risk.
individual power and responsibility in an environment which man will never be able to fully control. We as bungge jumpers willingly embrace that inherent risk."
is intrinsic to the sport. In a world of increasingly fewer opportunities to experience individual freedom and self-determination in the outdoors, bungee jumping remains a source of
Controversy surrounds proposed site
Kansan staff writer
By Cody Holt
If Tim Hoppin has anything to say about it, the sport of bungee jumping will make the long trek from Papau, New Guinea, to Lawrence.
Hoppin's local franchise of Vertical Additions Inc. has planned a bungie jumping site at Clinton Parkway and Coun-
The Lawrence Planning Commission is scheduled to consider Hoppin's proposed site tomorrow night.
He said the sport originated when tribunes jumped from the top of bamboo poles with vines attached to their ankles. The goal was to come as close to the ground as possible in this rite of passage.
However, he said the sport has undergone a lot of change.
"The track record is perfect commercially," he said. "Our worst enemy is ignorance because people assume that it is unsafe and it's not. It's completely safe and it gives people a new lease on life."
He added that despite more than 900,000 commercial jumps since the sport arrived in the United States five years ago, there had only been one fatality, and that occurred at an unlicensed site.
However, safety isn't the main concern of Lawrence landowners.
land.
Don Hazlett, who lives less than a half mile from the proposed site near Clinton Lake, said at a meeting last month that he didn't want the 155-foot construction-style crane, which would be used to jump from disturbing the serenity of the
"I don't mind bungee jumping," he said. "I'd just rather it not be in my backyard."
Mike Bronoski, who lives 800 feet from the proposed site, said last month that he was worried that the community would set a precedent if it allowed the site to operate near the lake.
"I just want the public to be aware of what they are opening the door to," he said.
But Kevin McNally, promotional director and a partner in the Lawrence company, said the land at their proposed site already was commercially zoned.
He said that a fast-food chain or a convenience store could be put there, which he said would be much more harmful to the environment.
McNally said that he was happy with the company's current location at the Johnson County Fair Grounds in Gardner, where it has been operating for the past two weeks. But he said that he would like to move to Lawrence to be closer to KU students.
The planning commission tomorrow will decide whether to recommend the site to the Douglas County Commission. The Commission will consider this before making a decision.
Vertical Additions is currently jumping every Friday and Saturday. The charge is $59 for one jump and $89 for two jumps. Both prices include a 15-minute video of the jumps. There also is a $10 discount whenever a jumper returns.
Hoppin said the company planned to operate in Kansas for the next two summers and then as long as there was a demand for it.
Unexpected snow closes CBS tour's first day
By Michelle Betts
Kansan staff writer
Did the CBS College Tour, which planned entertainment events at KU such as spoofs of the game shows "Family Feud" and "the Price Is Right" expect an April snow to close its tents?
Surveysays?
"XXX!"
An unusually late springtime snow kept the curtains closed yesterday on the tents of the nationwide CBS College Tour, which was scheduled to stop at kU yesterday and today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The tour has four 600-square-foot tents set up in front of Watson Library, and each tent holds two rows of seats to simulate sports broadcasts.
Jamie Cuturbath, president of the Association of University Residence Halls, which sponsored the event, said that if the poor weather continued today, the tour's KU stop
would be canceled.
Cutburth was upset that the weather put a damper on the activities.
"We're really hoping this lightens up, so we can do something," he said yesterday as the snow fell on the white tents.
Cuturbuth said AURH sponsored the tour as a fund-raising campaign so AURH members could attend a national conference at the University of North Dakota for residence hall associations.
The CBS tour will visit 51 colleges and universities during the school year. Its next stop is the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Joe Mercante, CBS College Tour manager, said that the tour had not canceled a campus appearance because of the weather since the tour started in August. But the tour cannot open at KU as long as the snow persists, he said.
equipment involved in the events could not be used or uncovered in the snow.
The events are "It's Your Call," in which students can tape their own play-by-play for CBS sports events in a simulated press box broadcast booth.
"Weather Station" allows students to tape their own weather broadcast with chief meteorologist Dave Relihan from WIBW-TV in Topeka, sponsor of the tour's KU stop.
Students will be able to keep a videotape of their broadcasts from both events.
"Studio CBS" will give students a chance to perform actual scenes from CBS soap operas such as "The Young and the Restless" and "Guiding Light."
The "Coming Attractions" tent, sponsored by TriStar pictures, will show clips from films such as "Basic Instinct" in a 15-seat mini-theater.
Fun Flowers
To Go!
6 ROSES
$6.50
Mixed Bouquet
$4.50
Cash & Carry
The Flower Shoppe
1101 Massachusetts
841-0800
8:30-5:30 Mon.-Sat.
18 speeds of Get Around Town Fun
GIANT Attraction $229.95 fully assembled
RICK'S BIKE SHOP
916 Mass., Lawrence, KS (913)841-6642