Leap Of Faith -- Bungee Jumping A `Nightmare' For State Regulators, Inspectors

Despite recent accidents in other states, Washington agencies, armed with a slim set of regulations, are leaving bungee operators and their customers hanging.

The state, it turns out, thinks a 17-story nose dive is an amusement ride.

That classification is based on the standard use of cranes to lift jumpers to their launch pads. Regulation of the ride, then, requires mechanical inspections but virtually ignores the harnesses and cords that tether jumpers to safety.

Jim Bear, one of Washington's three certified ride inspectors, refuses to inspect bungee sites. Only one of the three will, in fact.

"I made my first dollar inspecting a midway in 1936, and I've seen a lot of things since then, but I have grave reservations about bungee jumping," he said. "I would have to be out of my mind to feel qualified to inspect a jump. . . . I was certified to inspect rides - and this isn't a ride."

So is it a ride or is it a sport, as most bungee aficionados insist?

Descended from a South Pacific ritual in which men jumped from towers with vines tied to their ankles, bungee jumping has evolved into a trendy thrill one Australian government official has called "glue-sniffing for yuppies."

Soon after the practice migrated to the United States, it exploded into a high-profit business. By one count, this country has more than 200 operators who charge $50 to $100 for a one-minute plunge and rebound.

Regulation runs the gamut from virtually no requirements for Idaho sites to a 17-page maze of specifications in Wisconsin.

After a fatal accident in Michigan, Florida recently placed a temporary ban on its 18 bungee operators.

Washington has at least seven bungee companies - four of which have ride permits. But don't assume a decal from the state is any assurance of safety.

To issue a permit, the Department of Labor and Industries, which has jurisdiction over amusement rides, requires three things: a $10 fee, a recommendation from an approved insurance inspector or a certified ride inspector, and a $1 million liability policy.

Brian Dirks at Labor and Industries said the challenge bungee jumping poses to regulators is "a nightmare," and that a state permit is no guarantee of safety.

"Right now, we say jump at your own risk. It may have a state amusement-ride decal, but that doesn't mean people can jump without worry," he said.

The problem, apparently, is that the state's regulators pay more attention to the structure bungee jumpers fall from than the apparatus that secures them on the way down.

Adding to the confusion, several crane manufacturers eager to avoid liability for accidents have declared that bungee jumping is not an approved use of their equipment.

NOT AS MANY CRANES FOR RENT

In Seattle, at least two rental companies refuse to lease their cranes to bungee operators.

If cranes become even more scarce, the state will be back to square one on bungee regulation because the current requirements were written with only crane jumps in mind.

Leslie Imbler, who issues ride permits at Labor and Industries, said state agencies will regulate other kinds of commercial jumping as they appear.

She was surprised to learn a Portland-based company called Bungee Masters already offers jumps off a privately owned bridge near Woodland in Cowlitz County.

"We haven't looked at bridges. It's not a mechanical device, so it's not what we would call an amusement ride," she said. Informed that Bungee Masters winches jumpers back up to the bridge after their descent, she added, "Boy I don't know about the winching. It's just not something we've classified."

Even crane jumps pose regulatory problems. Most bungee operators rent them. If for some reason they swap machines, they must be reinspected.

To enforce that, the state requires operators to affix the permit decal directly onto the crane. But one company in Lynnwood, Rapid Descents, despite a previous citation for noncompliance, still keeps its decal in the registration shack.

Rick Bushman, in charge of Rapid Descents' business development, said the company didn't need a new decal because the "ride" hadn't changed.

"The only thing we changed was the crane," he said. The decal "is supposed to be on the ride, and the shack is part of the ride."

ONLY CRANES COVERED BY INSPECTION

A problem more worrisome than decal switching is that the only state-required inspection needn't cover anything but the crane.

David Jordan said his Federal Way operation, Crocodile Bungee, was reviewed by a Delcon Crane Certificators inspector who, in addition to inspecting the crane, looked at "our operations manual, our cords, the double-check safety system, the release form - everything."

But Scott Jamison, president of Delcon, said his engineers are only certified to inspect cranes to meet state or insurance requirements. If a Delcon inspectors examined the bungee apparatus, it was not part of the official inspection. "Our inspection ends where the ropes begin," he said. "The rest is up to the state, I guess."

Because insurance companies will take the financial fall in an accident, their requirements are often more strict than most states'.

Because many jumps are videotaped, when there is an accident, it usually lands on television. Several weeks ago, the country watched a Michigan man break an ankle in a fall.

Last week, audiences watched as a Maine woman did a "reverse jump." She was held to the ground while the crane was raised to stretch the cord and, when released, was catapulted into the base of a crane cage.

Certainly those accident videos are dramatic. But they may be misleading.

After more than 100,000 jumps in this country, there have been two deaths and a handful of serious injuries. Many jumpers insist it is safer than bicycling.

Bungee addicts argue among themselves about various harness and cord systems and state versus self-regulation, but all seem to agree that jumping 17 stories tethered to rubber cord is an unmatched thrill.

"We are born with a fear of only two things, a fear of falling and a fear of loud noises. When you conquer one of those, it changes your life," said Bill Jeswine, who is seeking a permit to open a bungee site on the Seattle waterfront.

Bungee jumpers don't have a death wish, he insists. They are "seekers of life. How can you know life until you have faced death and spit in its eye?" --------------------------------------------------------------- Bungee operations

Companies with amusement-ride permits: Crocodile Bungee, Enchanted Park, Fed. Way:

206-661-8000 Rapid Descents, Lynnwood: 206-388-2089 Sky Ventures, Bellingham: 206-371-JUMP Cowabungee, Kennewick: NA

Other companies: Spokane Bungee, Spokane: 509-466-6533 Over the Edge, Seattle: 206-935-5646 Bungee Masters, Portland: 503-520-0303