Perthshire takes the plunge: from Soldier's Leap to bungee jump

EVEN a soldier in fear of his life might hesitate at making this leap. Scotland's first bungee-jumping attraction is to open later this year in the famous Pass of Killiecrankie with thrill-seekers paying £60 a head to plummet 120 feet down into the gorge of the River Garry.

The 180,000 attraction, which has been more than four years in the planning, has been caught up in lengthy red-tape wrangles.

But work is finally set to get under way on the UK's first purpose-built bungee jump platform, which will offer thrill-seekers the chance to plunge 40 metres from underneath a busy road bridge in Highland Perthshire.

It is expected to become a flagship attraction for a tourism industry which has been trying to capitalise on Scotland's growing reputation as a world-class location for extreme sports.

It will be open to people over the age of 14 and will be launched on Friday, 13 May to add an extra frisson.

It is expected to take several weeks for work to be completed on the platform suspended from the Garry Bridge, which carries the A9 through the Pass.

The jump location is close to the site of a vicious battle between the Jacobites and government troops in July 1689. A fleeing government trooper escaped from the massacre by jumping 18.5 feet across the rocky sides of the gorge to evade his pursuers. The site of his remarkable feat is still known as "The Soldier's Leap".

Health and safety experts at Perth and Kinross Council and heritage experts at the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) have had to give their consent for the attraction, which is expected to bring in more than 4,000 visitors in its first year.

Several test jumps have already been carried out from a test platform, with banking giant HSBC even using the opportunity to film a forthcoming new advert.

Although the pass was the scene of the historic 17th-century battle, NTS officials insist the bungee jumping site will not be affecting any areas linked to the fighting.

New Zealander Murray Trail, who runs Highland Fling, a company set up to run the attraction, said: "A huge amount of preparation has gone into this project and it's taken a lot longer than we would have liked to get it off the ground.

"We actually got planning permission more than a year ago and we have got all the consents we need now.

"We're making final preparations at the moment, but we hope to open on Friday, 13 May as it is the same weekend as the Etape Caledonia cycle race and there will be an awful lot of people in the area.

"New Zealand is the home of the commercial bungee jump and there are lots of these platforms, but this is the first one anywhere in Scotland.

"Killiecrankie is so well known for being the site of the battle and the jump is obviously quite close to the location of the Soldier's Leap viewing point. The National Trust is letting us use their visitor centre as a base and they've been really helpful."

Ben Notley, property manager at NTS, said: "I know this partnership will raise an eyebrow or two, but it brings mutual benefit to the trust, Highland Fling, the local community and visitors alike.

"By bringing more visitors to the site, we can do a lot of good for the local economy and use the opportunities provided to engage with a wide range of people to increase awareness and respect for the environment.

"If there had been any question of undermining our protection for Killiecrankie's core heritage value, the proposal would never have been taken forward. As it is, by working together, we can find new ways to support protection of the key parts of the site for future generations. I think this offers a good model where different needs can be well met through partnership."

The Scottish Government has joined forces with its agencies VisitScotland and EventScotland to run a year-long campaign to promote major outdoor sports events and encourage people to take up new activities.

Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, said: "Whether you're into adrenaline-charged pursuits such as mountain biking or abseiling, or whether you enjoy gentler outdoor activities such as fishing or hill walking, Scotland's magnificent landscapes make it the perfect place to have an adventure.

"In the year of Active Scotland, it is great to see so many businesses embracing adventure tourism and helping to further cement this country's growing reputation as the adventure capital of Europe."

The Battle of Killiecrankie was fought between Highland Scottish clans supporting King James VII of Scotland (also known as James II of England) and government troops supporting King William of Orange on 27 July, 1689, during the first Jacobite uprising.

Although it was a stunning victory for the Jacobites, it had little overall effect on the outcome of the war and resulted in the death of their leader. Soldier's Leap marks the spot on the narrow, wooded gorge where, it is said, Donald MacBean, a government soldier, avoided certain capture or death by jumping 18.5 feet across the river.

Big bounce

Although New Zealand is widely regarded as the home of bungee jumping, the first jumps were actually made on 1 April, 1979 from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol by five members of the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club.

Commercial bungee was launched in New Zealand by the extreme sports entrepreneur AJ Hackett, who developed a super-stretched elastic cord in the 1980s and tested it by throwing himself off the Eiffel Tower in 1987. He created the first official bungee site at the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand, the following year.

Hackett holds the record for the world's highest bungee jump - 233 metres - from the Macau Sky Tower in 2005. The tallest commercial location is currently the Bloukrans Bridge, near Nature's Valley in the Western Cape of South Africa, at 216 metres.