I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of rap jumping before. I’ve never heard of it myself until I arrived in Australia. The concept of rap jumping is a bit baffling. You stand on the edge of a tall building … and start jumping down. To me, this sounded like an experience where you jump off a building in like a suicide, without it actually being an actual suicide. If you’d like to find out what this feels like, read on and find out.
Verdict – This is probably the closest experience you will ever get to jumping off a building. My feet certainly trembled when I was at the edge of the rooftop. It takes a bit of courage (and certainly a leep of faith) to jump off the building rooftop. Once you’ve done it, you’ll find rap jumping fun and incredible.
Bucket list rating – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Cost rating – 3 out of 5 stars
I’ve never actually considered jumping off a building. I mean, sometimes, you imagine how scary it would be. But there are surely less painful ways to kill yourself. Anyway, when I found out about rap jumping, I was immediately intrigued, because I wanted to find out what it was like to … jump off a building.
The building for rap jumping is at a youth accommodation, and is around seven stories tall. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to consume another alcohol for a bit of Dutch courage at the bar located at ground floor, as this was against Rap Jumping’s safety protocols. At least, this showed that Rap Jumping really cared about its customer’s safety and had good safety protocols. I mean, they do say that they have a 100% safety record since they started business in 1989.
As we reached the top of the building, the instructor explained that rap jumping is really a form of abseiling/rappelling, but you look towards the ground instead of looking up at the sky. In more technical language, which I quote from their website “Rap Jumping is a highly advanced form of freestyle rope work. The method we use is a forward SRT rappel commonly known as the Aussie Rappel developed by the Australian SAS.”
After we put on our helmets (fitted with Go Pros if you have paid for the extra package), safety harnesses and gloves, our group of five were asked to see who would like to good first. I looked around at the group, and most of them were pretty brave and eager (and I felt like a complete pussy for feeling nervous at that point). In particular, one person in our group was actually a grandmother who just turned 70 and her kids gave this experience to her as a present. She probably had my balls then me at that moment.
I ended up going second last. When I was called upon, the walk towards the edge of the roof and climbing up to the edge was terrifying. It was like “walking the plank” in those pirate movies. My legs ended up absolutely frozen as I was at the edge. Even though the building is only seven story high, it certainly feels much higher than that when you’re nervous. The instructor kept on urging me to jump off. After a while, I got fed up with myself being a pussy as well, closed my eyes, and jumped off the building.
That split second was terrifying, but once it was over, I actually felt excited. I saw the second instructor at the ground, who was belaying me, yelling instructions at me telling me to start jumping. From the on, my focus was simply just trying to jump up and down and have a fun. I actually felt like a superhero bouncing up and down on the face of the building. By the time, the jump was over in a matter of minutes, I was already itching for the next run.
In my second and third run, we were taught further skills on how we can control our speed of descent better and jump further. It wasn’t as easy as I thought. You had to release a bit of rope you are holding onto (similar to abseling/rappelling, if you hold the rope too tight you don’t move, and if you release a bit of the rope you’re holding onto you can descend faster) and time this with a jump at the right time in order to jump smoothly. Most of the times, I ended up dangling on the rope rather than jumping elegantly. Luckily, the Go Pro footage doesn’t show how badly – so hopefully my good reputation is still intact.
After an exciting rap jumping session, I eventually managed to do what I wanted … get hold of a cold beer.
Additional information
| When to do it? | All year round |
| How to book? | Book online with http://rapjumping.com/ |
| How much does it cost? | AUD99 (without any Go Pro footage). AUD 150 (including Go Pro footage). |
| How to get there? | Taxi to Urban Central Accomodation in Melbourne is the easiest option. |
| How long does it take? | 2 hours. |
| Is it difficult/safe? | No experience required. Rap jumping’s website indicates that they have a 100% safety record. |
| What to wear? | Warm clothes as it can get a bit chilly on the rooftop (especially if you are nervous). |
| Language | English |