The Human Slingshot at Action Valley in Cusco, Peru

One of the things I love about traveling is the unexpected. For instance, I of course knew about bungee jumping but I didn’t know there was such a thing as reverse bungee jumping, aka the human slingshot. And I certainly didn’t know that that’s where I would be going on this particular day.

This trip started out in Cusco, Peru. I had just fallen off of a motorcycle in an empty alleyway during a test drive to see if I could handle one. I could not. And after I got assigned to the back of one, we were on our way to what I thought was going to be a leisurely drive to the Sacred Valley. However, a short while later we took a surprise stop at a roadside attraction called the human slingshot.

And it is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a reverse bungee where you are launched into outer space until the cord gives way and then you free fall back towards the ground where you’ll eventually catch and swing.

You go 130 meters (426 ft) high in only 3 SECONDS.

Needless to say, this is an adventure stop for the adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers.

How to Get There

The Human Slingshot is located at an attraction called Action Valley in the Poroy District. It’s about a 25 minute drive outside of Cusco to the northwest. If you have your own transportation, you’ll see the signs from the road. Otherwise, the easiest way to get there is to just book an activity directly with Action Valley. You can meet at their office within Cusco and transportation to the jump/launch spot is free.

The Human Slingshot

I was traveling with two guys, one of which was a local, so we were explained the situation. Essentially, there was a platform suspended (somehow) in the sky and you could choose to either bungee jump from it or do the slingshot.

Me and the other guy, the two tourists in our group, looked back and forth at each other to see what the decision was going to be. Either we hop back on our motorcycles and spare our nerves, or we both do it because no one wants to go alone and hold the rest of the group up.

After about 30 minutes of mulling it over and trying to psych ourselves up for it, the other guy in our group, Hunter, finally looks over and says, “I’ll do it if you do it.” We were both already nervous wrecks so I don’t think he expected me to say ‘ok’. And his response was an immediate “shit.”

Meanwhile, we had seen no one do the slingshot during those 30 minutes but it was already decided that Hunter would go first. He said if he saw someone else do it, he probably would chicken out and not do it at all. I’m the opposite–I like to see that people survive first.

Preparation

To do either the human slingshot or bungee jump, you have to fill out your waivers first with important information. Once you’ve signed over your life, you have to get weighed so that they know which rope to use for you. They’ll also start briefing you and send you over to a board to start your stretches. Yes, stretches.

Warm up + Stretches

So why do you have to do warm-up stretches? Because at some point, your body will be FLAILING. Legs and arms swatting at the air as you free fall back to earth. And it’s not out of the realm that you could pull a muscle while fighting the air.

There’s about nine stretches to go through and an allotted time for each stretch. I definitely felt silly at the time but looking back, it makes sense. Especially after seeing the video of my body somersaulting through the air.

Once you’re done with your stretches, you’ll head over to get your gear on which includes multiple ropes, harnesses, helmet and…a neck brace. You have to put on a neck brace so you don’t injure your neck with the force of the slingshot. Am I insane? Yes. Is everyone else who does this? Probably.

But in all seriousness, this place has done over 500K jumps and there have been NO accidents. (I don’t think I knew that at the time but it’s good to know and that’s what I found on their website.)

The Launch + Free Fall

They’ll brief you the whole time (they speak English and Spanish) and give you instructions for when you launch. You’ll head over to a launch pad and get hooked up to the bungee cord while it stretches into the air. (My heart is racing just by reliving this moment by typing it out HA).

At some point, they’ll lift you up and you’ll be dangling in the air. I was told to keep my chin tucked down tightly into the brace to help combat the force of the slingshot. And you’ll hold on to the front of your harness for dear life as they count down from three.

After that, they ‘pull the lever’ and you fly up into the atmosphere so fast that you can’t even make a sound. 130 METERS IN 3 SECONDS. It took about 2 of those seconds for my voice to free itself and then I let out the most blood curdling scream that’s ever come out of my mouth.

But it doesn’t just stop with that initial launch, because once you lose momentum, you just start to hurtle back down to the ground. And your body may or may not be upright. Once your cord catches, your body will be somersaulting and flipping every which way while free falling.

And because you have so much initial momentum, it’ll happen several times while you head into a giant swing–going back up into the air and free falling again.

Eventually you start to slow down and you can let go of your harness to put your hands out as if you’re flying. It’s absolutely crazy. And is still one of the craziest things I’ve done. And I’ve done a few.

The Aftermath

Once you stop swinging, they’ll start to lower you slowly back down to the launch pad where you can put your feet back on solid ground.

As you can see in the picture below, I had to set my feet pretty far apart just to keep my balance and I also just look like I’ve had an electric shock. I was a nervous, shaking noodle when I got back on the ground. Hunter just laid on the grass after his turn and honestly I could have done the same. It took me about 20 minutes to stop shaking and feel like I was walking normally again.

Worth doing? Abso-freaking-lutely. If you’re a thrill seeker, this is a crazy experience to do and it will definitely get your heart rate going.

Things to Know

• You can purchase a combo ticket and do both jumps in one afternoon.
• There’s a video option add-on for $22 to have a go-pro on you during the jump. And if you add on the video purchase, they’ll give you photos from the jump as well!
• Listen to the instructors and make sure you follow all safety rules!!

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