Daniel Metcalfe

Alexander the Great crossed the raging Oxus on stuffed animals’ hides; Indiana Jones hacked off a string bridge and swung over a croc-infested gorge. But for winter sports freaks jaded with all the known adrenaline-inducers, here’s a new one: Bun-J-Ride, a devilish mid-air experience straddling an Alpine river, every bit as thrilling as skiing and bungee jumping.

Bun-J-Ride is the invention of veteran bungee enthusiast Jean-François Michelin. Having supervised tens of thousands of jumps in Normandy, New Zealand and Indonesia, the Doctor of Near Death has brought his invention to the near-comatose French village of Saint-Jean-de-Sixt, a neighbour of the ski hubs of Grand Bornand and La Clusaz in the Haute-Savoie region of France.

Michelin and his Bun-J-Riders erected a ramp 40m above the freezing river and then strung twin cables to the opposite bank. They strapped on rubber bungees that slide along the cables, and opened their first Bun-J-Ride in May 2009. At €65 a go, the idea is that you ski, sled or cycle down a 28m-long ramp and are hurled in to the open air to fly, and then slide gently to the other side. The point, of course, is the near-death illusion, which even for the hardest stomachs, doesn’t disappoint.

I’ve never managed to dispel a growing unease in the run-up to simulated suicide, as they strap you in (“don’t they know I’m about to die?”). I seek reassurance from Michelin: “Anything I need to know before I go?”

Non,” is all I get back in reply.

Hardly comprehending what I’m doing, I hurtle down the ramp, absurdly worrying about my ski style. I feel like Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards. Suddenly, I’m shot into the abyss, and I forget Edwards because now I’m a bird – or something. I experience that deep awareness where your brain shuts down and consciousness shifts. I notice that a large mountain is revolving 180 degrees downwards.

That’s a strange direction, I muse. I notice the swirly pattern on my skis, weightless against a deep blue sky. Then the floating ends as my body begins to fall. Adrenaline floods my body and I’m fully into my liminal experience. I perceive that I’m mortal again, which means I have a lot to lose. My harness tugs at the cables and I bounce up, slower this time. Am I safe? Yes I think I’m safe.

My thinking brain returns and I laugh maniacally in the calm descent to the other side of the river. I’m still giggling as a laconic staff member unstraps me from my supine position. “Have I arrived?” I ask, mystically.

He’s seen it all before. “Euh, oui, monsieur.” Yes, there are many ways to cross a river, but few quite so transcendental.

• Bun-J-Ride (bun-j-ride.com) is open every weekend throughout the year. It is open daily from 19 December to 3 January (except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day), and from 6 February to 7 March. Advance booking strongly recommended

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