Highland Perthshire is the location for a unique world record attempt.
Frenchman Francois-Marie Dibon (44) is attempting the most bungee jumps ever completed in 24 hours.
On Tuesday (today), he is planning to break the record of 430 jumps in one day - set in 2017 by Kiwi Mike Heard at Auckland Harbour Bridge.
The venue will be the 40m plummet from Garry Bridge near Killiecrankie, operated by Highland Fling Bungee which was the UK’s first purpose-built bridge bungee jumping platform.
A Guinness Book of Records adjudicator from London will be on hand, with Francois and his team of jump masters, operating in four-hour shifts, starting the quest this morning.
The Paris-raised professional, an actuary in employee benefits in Stockholm, will jump through the night, taking small rest breaks and micro-napping, something he has taught himself to do.
It will be the culmination of years of planning, with their hopes and preparations punctuated by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
When Wednesday morning arrives and Francois finally stands upright again, he is hopeful the existing record for outdoor jumps will have been surpassed.
“We have been thinking about this for the last five and a half years, with ups and downs and some road-blocks on the way,” he said ahead of the challenge. “It takes a lot of trained staff to do something like this.
“Then the pandemic happened and the travel restrictions made it difficult for me to travel from Sweden to Scotland.
“Now the karma is good. The stars are aligned.”
He added: “I am just the jumper of the team, it is a collective sport. Without me there is no record, without the team I will do only one jump.
“It takes an amazing team over this very long effort. In 24 hours you only have 1440 minutes, it might seem a lot but when you are under time pressure, every second we lose, if you multiply that by hundreds, you are losing time.
“Everyone’s role is so important.”
Francois did his first bungee jump in September 2010 as a mental re-set after the demands of combining work and exams.
He didn’t tell anyone because he was aware of his crippling personal fears and didn’t know if he would manage to leave the platform.
Since conquering his initial demons he has developed a deep passion for the sport but the journey towards this week’s record has seen bumps on the way.
As late as March, he was suffering the equivalent of sea-sickness due to the constant motion of going up and down on the elasticated bungee cord.
However, after doing weekly 25 hour cardio and core muscle stints in the gym and learning breathing techniques, he feels ready to turn his passion into something more meaningful.
He said: “Like most people I don’t like pain and I don’t like fear but I like the idea of facing your fears and trying to overcome them.
“For one whole week after my first jump my body ached because I was so stressed but I realised, then, that this was good for me.”
The Highland Fling Bungee team have made technical adjustments to their winched retrieval system to accommodate the bid and jumpmasters will operate shifts over the 24-hour period.
Laurie ‘Loz’ Thomas, jump master and operations manager, said: “When Francois first jumped with us, he fell in love with the place.
“It is great to be part of this, with him, and the team will have this on their CVs forever. Hopefully we are celebrating success.”
