Skypark by AJ Hackett employee Shai Baller becomes first jump master in Australia

A Cairns tourism employee who made history by becoming the first woman in Australia to achieve a major feat celebrated in style – by sending her boss plunging 50m.

A Cairns tourism employee who made history by becoming the first woman in Australia to achieve a major feat celebrated in style – by sending her boss plunging 50m.

Skypark Cairns by AJ Hackett’s Shai Baller on Monday became the first woman in the country to graduate as a jump master – a feat achieved following a “rigorous” two-year training program and giving the 25-year-old the ultimate responsibility in bungy jumping.

Jump master Shai Baller with the godfather of bungy jumping, AJ Hackett, at Skypark Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Skypark general manager Paul Abbot said Ms Baller would become the operation’s fourth jump master – putting her in charge of oversight atop the jumping platform from client safety, to assessing their health and capability to weight and rope measurements to ensure the “perfect plunge” and “just the right amount of water.”

Ms Baller who already had a qualification in adventure tourism management said she enjoyed the training of breaking into a male dominated industry.

“I think for me personally, because it is a male dominated role, it can be quite hard to be the person of authority,” Ms Baller said.

Shai Baller instructs the godfather of bungy jumping, AJ Hackett, for her first jump as a jump master at Skypark Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

AJ Hackett takes a leap of faith at Skypark Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

“But I like a challenge, I like the responsibility and this is something I’ve always dreamt of doing since the day I started at (AJ Hackett) bungy in New Zealand when I was 18.
“So over the last few years, I have been up there under the supervision of the jump controllers here at Skypark, and that included from the get go, learning the basics like tying the ropes to, learning all the fundamentals of safety when it comes to bungy jumping, and going through that process with the jump controllers, jump masters here, and just really ensuring safety is our top priority.”

To mark her first official jump as a master, Ms Baller oversaw founder and “godfather” of bungy jumping – Allan John “AJ” Hackett – who was in town for the week to celebrate the milestone.

“I had the pleasure of watching Shai work on Saturday and it’s pretty intimidating when you’re up there and surrounded by all these men, and, you know, with a huge depth of experience and putting her through the final test, which is just seeing how she operates with customers and work associates. And she’s done a brilliant job,” Mr Hackett said.

Originally published as Skypark by AJ Hackett employee Shai Baller becomes first jump master in Australia