Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Bungee proposals may see people jumping off bridges

Referral groups assessing applications for commercial tenures in the Sea to Sky Corridor will be bouncing around a host of ideas over the next few weeks, including two separate proposals for bungee jump facilties near Whistler.

Referral groups assessing applications for commercial tenures in the Sea to Sky Corridor will be bouncing around a host of ideas over the next few weeks, including two separate proposals for bungee jump facilties near Whistler.

More than six years after airing its first bungee proposal, Whistler Bungee Inc. has once again cast its iron into the fire with an application to build a bridge across the Cheakamus River for the purpose of offering 180-190 foot commercial jumps.

The bridge would also provide public pedestrian access for hikers and mountain bikers wanting to reach trails on the other side of the river.

The application for commercial tenure has been made by company owners Chris Rollett from Vancouver and Californian Michael Krieger, and is currently before the British Columbia Assets and Lands Corporation. BCAL has been seeking public comment on it through newspaper advertisements.

Whistler Bungee consultant, Don van der Horst, says the current application differs significantly from what was first put before the municipality in 1994. The site location, some 15 kilometres south of the village off Highway 99, has remained the same, but other aspects are significantly different, he says.

"The original proposal comprised a platform fixed to the edge of the west side of the canyon wall that had the single function of being a jumping facility," he explains. "What we are looking at now is a multi-use bridge that will add value in terms of access to a network of existing and proposed trails."

van der Horst says the full suspension bridge will cost around $300,000 to build and will be freely available to the public at all times. A new parking area proposed near the Cal-cheak recreation site off the Callaghan East Forest Road would also be available to the public, he adds.

Another bridge-jump business aims to set up shop over Callaghan Creek in the Callaghan Valley. The Nanaimo-based Ranier Water Company, which currently offers commercial jumps in the Nanaimo River Canyon under the operating name, The Bungy Zone, applied more than a year ago. The proposal is one of 53 commercial recreation tenure applications currently before BCAL. Bungy Zone founder and now acting consultant, John Brown, says the proposed 150 foot jump has met some resistance from the municipality but he is working through the process.

"We have to provide an environmental impact report involving various government agencies and get approval from the Squamish Indian band that has a claim in the Callaghan," he says. "It’s pretty mind boggling, the number of obstacles you have to get around."

Brown believes gaining First Nations backing will be the hardest step, because "it’s so difficult to organize meetings with them and then they don’t get back to you when they say they will."

The Olympic bid proposal that includes the Callaghan is another wildcard in the equation, plus some council members think that bungee operations don’t fit the Whistler image, he adds.

"I’ve heard some Mickey-Mouse proposals to offer bungee jumps off cranes or balloons got turned down because they were too much like a carnival set-up, but what we are talking about is a new bridge that will add value as a pedestrian access-way," Brown, a New Zealander, said.

A car park facility and toilets are also included in the application, he added.

On paper it appears that the two bungee applications are similar. However, the two are being processed under different classifications – a commercial recreation tenure cost-based on the number of clients and a commercial tenure rental based on the value of the land. BCAL special projects spokesperson David Reilley says full details of the Callaghan bungee application will be available mid-March, along with the other 52 commercial recreation tenure applications. He says some re-classifications and content modifications are possible, depending on feedback from referral groups such as government agencies and public interest groups.

"We are at the preliminary technical analysis stage at looking at all commercial business on Crown land and whether fixed activities should be classified differently than trips that wander all over the backcountry," Reilly said.

However, Reilley says the application process for both commercial and commercial recreation tenures are almost identical in terms of the referrals and technical studies required.

Whistler Bungee says it’s a coincidence that its application for commercial tenure rental has almost directly coincided with the commercial recreation tenure round. van der Horst says as expected, public feedback on the proposal has been minimal because "we did our homework over the years before making this final, formal application."

However, Brown says both companies should realize other factors could affect potential bungee operations in Whistler. He says high-water years could be a detriment to anyone hoping for a long bungee season.

"It could be difficult to pull people back up if there’s a heavy snowmelt and the river starts raging – especially in a river like the Cheakamus which can really get pumping."

Brown expects the BCAL process to take up to two years to complete and says he has other potential projects up his sleeve in the meantime.

"I’m in New Zealand right now setting up a 500 foot jump out of a hot-air balloon near Taupo, so if that goes well I might look at setting up a similar 300 foot set-up near Nanaimo."

However he says Canadian regulations tend to be a bit tougher than Kiwi rules, where there is more of a "jumper beware" mentality. The Bungy Zone says it has an unblemished safety record.