SWITZERLAND – Verzasca Dam // GoldenEye (1995)

GoldenEye opens with a bang: James Bond bungee jumps down 220 metres from Verzasca Dam. We did the bungee jump as well! This is, how it went down (and up again).

You might had a good start in the day, a hearty breakfast even. Strong coffee, eggs and toast maybe. You even might had a nice drive along the scenic north of Italy, the glistering Lago di Como and the crystal-clear Lago di Lugano in Switzerland. But once you drive up the valley and the Verzasca Dam comes to view for the first time, your heart just drops. In some minutes you will jump down that massive concrete wall, 220 metres into the depth.

It is not about fear, is is about thrill. We went up the Verzasca Dam and down on the bungee rope. The moment right before the jump? Absolute freedom. And the second, the rope tightened for the first time and you realize it holds? A beautiful rush of adrenaline!

Why Bond was here
In “GoldenEye”, 007 (Pierce Brosnan) has to deal with new threats and new villains after the crumble of the iron curtain. But the pretitle sequence sets him against the Soviet Union one last time.
He travels to Arkhangelsk in northern Russia to infiltrate a secret Soviet chemical weapons facility alongside 006 (Sean Bean). While 006 is already inside the base, Bond has to enter from above. He bungee jumps down a massive concrete dam and then pins himself onto the ventilation roof of the facilities toilets via grabbling gun. Though jumping down some hundred meters, the army base still movie-mysteriously seems to be on top of a mountain: Later in the sequence Bond escapes via plane off a cliff.

How you gonna get there
The arch dam is not in Russia but Switzerland. It is the 220 meter high Contra Dam – or Verzasca Dam – that holds the waters of Lago di Vogorno at the Verzasca valley. The massive structure is just a 20 minute drive or two hour hike away from Locarno. 
Best option to get to the Verzasca Dam is to rent a car and drive up. You may either fly in to Swiss cities Locarno or Bern, which is a four hour drive from the latter. Or you opt for Italian gem Milano, roughly an hour to the south. Also beautiful Lago di Como is nearby, where scenes from “Casino Royale” were shot. 
Going via train, take one to Tenero train station near the Locarno airport and then hop onto Swiss PostAuto bus 321 from “Tenero Stazione” to “Diga Verzasca”

Good to know
If you wish to jump, you have to plan your trip way in advance. There is only one operator, who is allowed to offer bungee jumps at the Verzasca Dam. “Trekking”-owner Toni Draganits started the business as early as 1996, just a year after the release of “Goldeneye”. Jumping is possible from around Easter till October every year, but only on weekends. The basic jump is currently 195 Swiss francs, you can book a camera as an add-on.

The original movie stunt was performed by British stuntman Wayne Michaels. Back then, it was quite tricky. “Basically, this had never been done before, and because of that, there were an untold number of things that could go wrong”, Michaels remembers. How long does the rope need to be? Will the wind push Michaels into the wall? “There was a trauma clinic ready and an emergency helicopter to rush me to hospital”, the stuntman says. At the time of filming, the jump broke the record for the biggest fall of all time.

In the video – our bungee jump down Verzasca Dam:

According to Toni Draganits, bungee jumping at Verzasca nowadays is much more advanced – and safe. Over 10,000 people have jumped the dam till today. Not one accident has happened.

Our jump went down smoothly as well. From the parking lot it is just a short walk over the center of the dam, where the “Trekking”-crew installed a little scaffold. You get registered, scaled and then prepped for a “dry jump”: The bungee rope is bound at your ankles, a secondary rope is attached to a harness on you. Once you jumped you’ll have to bring yourself in a horizontal position with the security rope, then a steel cable gets lowered down – you have to attach it as well – to pull you back up.

I, Marc, absolutely loved the jump from the first second. The look down was awesome and blood-pumping. I streched my arms wide open and just did the Bond, flying down in silence. For about six to seven seconds the bottom rushed closer and closer – then the rope tightened. Now I finally had to scream, feeling all the sharp adrenaline in my mouth. It is a moment of absolute joy once you realize, you overcame fear. The bungee rope twirled me up and down for about three more times, than I just hung around and enjoyed the view over the Verzasca valley.

I signaled for the steel rope and made my ascent. Calm, yet thrilled.

The Verzasca valley is close to the Italian border and Lago di Como. The lake is filming location to two beautiful villas from “Casino Royale”. So you easily can manage to combine both countries in a visit. We stayed in Italy with a day-trip to Switzerland. After the bungee jump we had a nice afternoon in Swiss lake gem Lugano. The city is quite a beauty, but don’t stop for a coffee. Prices in Switzerland are sky-high – and caffè is much better over in Italy.

© 2022 Huntingbond (1,3), © 1995 Danjaq Inc. and United Artists Pictures Inc. (2)