Hepatitis C Awareness Day was on October 1st 2005.

Phil & Smialls went on adventure.

2 intrepid adventurers set off from The Peacock Project in Halifax, England to the Bungee jump off the 103 metre (338 ft) Mighty Ponsonnas Bridge near Grenoble in the French Alps to help raise awareness about this awful virus ‘Hepatitis C’ and raise a few pounds to help fund The Peacock Project (Halifax and Huddersfield Hepatitis C Support Group.UK).

Base Camp

Base camp at the foot of La Meije Glacier 3,983 mts (10,000 ft) above sea level in the village of La Grave 80 km (50miles) from the jump site at Ponsonnas. Here we relax for a couple of days taking in the breathtaking views, relaxing by the clear mountain streams and sampling the most exciting food in Europe.

October 1st 2005….Bungeeee Day

Nerves, Anxiety and stress are all now affecting me in various ways. Thoughts are blurring, Hands are shaking, and Stomach full of butterflies. Breakfast doesn’t seem a good idea just yet. Maybe yet another cigarette.
Journey from Base Camp to Ponsonnas is approximately Two hours of beautiful winding dangerous high mountain passes via Lac du Chambon, Le bourg-d’Oisans over the Col d’Ornon and on through Chantelouve and Le Perrier and finally down to Ponsonnas bridge spanning the gorge of Le Drac.

What a stunning, awesome view. Oh my god what are we doing here. We get to the bridge and check it out. Things are real now. It’s a bloody long way down, like a really bloody long way down. Time to calm the nerves with just one Kronenburg and a few words of wisdom from Phil.

Time is ticking away, my heart is thumping, the whole of my body has gone numb. Wow what’s going on.
In an instant it changes, a smile comes over my face, all my muscles relax, my heart comes off the critical list and man, this is the place to be.

I’m gonna fly into the most beautiful gorge I have ever seen. The weather is perfect, the screams of previous jumpers echo down the valley. The air is full of subdued excitement.

Time to prepare, get harnessed up, get weighed (61 kilos) ? .. oh well lets hope they get it right.
I wish I could understand French. I think I should jump now as they have shaken my hand and directed me to climb on the wall of the bridge…This is wonderfullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

Maybe 2, maybe 3 seconds of white silence, you see the river at the bottom of the gorge directly below, close and coming closer. Falling at a speed of up to 100 km/h (60 mph) and I let out an almighty breath as I feel the sensation of my internal organs being forced forward by the G Force as the tension of the bungee takes hold and wham, straight back up toward the underneath of the Bridge. Oh the giggles start. This is funny. Blimey this is funny.

Ahhhhhhh lying on me back next to this lovely sound of the river bubbling by.
‘Would you like your certificate sir’, says this young French lad who was there to greet and untether me !!
‘Oh Yes Please. says I..

Smialls and Phil x

We raised over £600