Human accomplishments in sport are diverse, numerous and
occasionally fatal. Until now, however, one sporting avenue
has been under-explored.
You will probably have wondered, as have I, why there is no
discipline that combines the skills of rodeo, bungee-jumping
and skydiving in a modern,
eco-friendly way.
Wonder no more! MaxCo.'s sporting division is campaigning to
have Wind Turbine Bungee Skydiving included in the next
olympics. Given that the MaxCo.-sponsored team - the Flying
Trolls - consists of the only two surviving individuals who are
adept at this sport, we expect to bring home at least a silver.
WTBS (or "International WTBS" as it will be called once another
team joins in) involves a long bungee rope, the far end of
which carries a heavily-weighted steel-wire basket. The
competitor stands within the 20m-diameter launch area,
slightly to one side of a wind-turbine tower and, at the
appropriate moment, swings and throws the weighted basket
to snare the tip of one of the blades.
The other end of the bungee is, of course, secured to the
ankles of the participant who, in due course, will be slung-shot
skywards. A variety of techniques have been developed for
avoiding the invevitable "face slamming into ground
immediately before takeoff" fault (which incurs penalty
points).
The combination of the bungee rope's natural bunge, plus the
rapid upward sweep of the blade, can loft the experienced
WTBSer to quite unexpected altitudes. (We have found that it
is really quite important that the basket is designed to slip
easily off the blade tip at the appropriate moment.)
Having reached maximum altitude (as recorded by the
triangulation cameras), the WTBSer is free to perform a variety
of skydiving manoeuvres, which are scored for style,
complexity and duration. Finally, at the lowest altitude judged
safe, the fast-opening parachute is deployed and the
participant attempts to land as close as possible to the target
marker.