You’d think an Australian cop would be better prepared to deal with peer pressure. However, while on location this spring for their upcoming film We’re Going There Anyway, the Skippy Film crew convinced Jackson kayak’s down-under paddler Jez Blanchard to hurtle himself in his Rocker well more than 50 metres (164 feet) into oblivion for some truly sick bigdrop footage.
Simply known as Jez, the Sydney riot squad officer is a four-time national champion, multi-time OC1 World Cup finalist and creator of the Jackson kayak Camp Instructional Tour. After a quick phone call to the operators of AJ Hacket Bungy, who immediately went about setting up safety and erecting a ramp for a little added vertical spice, he was whisked off to North Queensland.
Rigged into a full-body harness, then strapped into his kayak, Jez was placed several metres higher than the usual 50-metre-high bungee platform. At the very top of the tower the ramp had been added, allowing him to reach 200 kilometres per hour as he launched into rarified air.
“I wasn’t feeling too bad considering I knew what was about to take place,” says Jez.
“A jump like this is fine at the start as all you can see is the horizon line of the roof, however, as soon as I got to the edge I realized how ridiculous this was.
The ground is a very solid thing, and when it comes towards you at terminal velocity you do tend to get a little freaked out.”
He went into an uncontrolled spin, but kept paddling, “partly because it’s a normal reaction to being in a boat and partly because the film crew thought it would look sweet.”
With the recoil at the bottom, Jez scuffed up his shoulders on the harness and says he felt an uncomfortable squeeze in his manhood, but the bow of the boat successfully kissed the surface of the pool below and he even added a little slap of his paddle before bouncing back up.
“It is the ultimate park and huck,” Jez said. “But if you’re ever asked to kayak bungee, it’s like drugs, just say ‘no’.”
This article first appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of Rapid Magazine.
