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Nagol

N
PLAYERS
1+ (individual, ceremonial)
DIFFICULTY
SETTING
Outdoor
MATERIALS
MEASUREMENTS

Traditional towers are built to heights of 20-30m using lashed wooden poles.

HOW TO PLAY
1

Village men spend weeks building a tall tapering tower from cut timber, lashing the wooden platforms together with vines at increasing heights.

2

Each diver selects two vines, testing their length and flexibility to ensure they will stretch just enough to slow his fall without snapping.

3

The vines are carefully tied around the diver's ankles while he stands on a small platform built out from the tower at his chosen height.

4

The diver crosses his arms over his chest, leans forward off the platform, and dives headfirst toward the ground below.

5

The vines stretch taut and check the diver's fall just before his head or shoulders touch the earth, which has been softened and tilled beforehand.

6

Divers from higher platforms earn greater prestige within the village, with the practice traditionally tied to blessing the year's yam harvest.