The Great Bungee Company brings world-class bungee jumping to Harpers Ferry

By Vanta Coda III, RealWV

Grass ripples across the Schoolhouse Ridge section of Harpers Ferry National Park. Muffled by gusts of wind moving through the warm-season grasses of the battlefield, a faint scream from the nearby Old Standard Quarry can be heard across the road.

It is a scream of adrenaline from the newest addition in Harpers Ferry, W.Va. At The Great Bungee Company, thrill-seekers can enjoy a unique, heart-racing experience.

The Great Bungee Company opened on May 16 at Old Standard Quarry in Harpers Ferry, W.Va, approximately an hour from the Washington D.C., and Baltimore regions. The bungee site is unique to the United States, as it is the only bungee jumping operation in the country open seven days a week. It also features a cantilevered bungee tower that allows jumpers to leap from the top of a cliff into the turquoise quarry waters below. Paul Cleminson, general manager of The Great Bungee Company, is excited to bring bungee jumping to W.Va. 

“This business has been in development for two and a half years,” said Cleminson, general manager of The Great Bungee Company. “A lot of that has been engineering done to the tower. And of course, with West Virginia regulations for this type of activity, it’s a very lengthy process. It’s taken a long time, but in all of that time, our company has done a good job on social media letting people know that we were going to be coming to the area, and people have been following the progress of the site on our website for the past two years.”

In fact, The Great Bungee Company sold more than 600 priority passes two years ago, sparking public interest in jumping at the site. Now that the company has opened, an influx of those pass holders have been coming to use them. 

After being open for only five weeks, the business has been booked every weekend. 

Pass holders and regular customers aren’t the only groups happy that The Great Bungee Company has taken up residence in Harpers Ferry; local organizations and businesses are excited about the new business, too. 

“At our grand opening, we had a lot of people from different organizations in the area who really expressed their excitement about us coming here,” Cleminson said. “Not only are we offering an activity here that is bringing in jobs to the area and bringing customers from other areas east of here and around, but we believe we are helping the tourism industry in West Virginia.”

The Great Bungee Company has not only helped boost tourism in West Virginia, but also helped clean the environment around its site by removing trash that had built up over decades at Old Standard Quarry.

The Great Bungee Company is a Canadian-based company that has operated a jump site outside Ottawa, Canada, for over 30 years. The owners of the Great Bungee Company, Nick Steers and Matt Lawrence, are dedicated not only to their company, but also to the sport of bungee jumping. They help with safety regulations across the industry worldwide.

Their affiliate, Bungee Consultants International, travels around the world to various sites and helps other companies open bungee jumping sites. Additionally, they manufacture bungee jumping equipment, including bungee cords and harnesses used at The Great Bungee Company, and are also shipped worldwide.

With world class-bungee jumping now available in West Virginia’s backyard, The Great Bungee Company adds another reason the Mountain State is wild and wonderful.