The reputation of Queenstown in New Zealand for adventure tourism is being enhanced with the addition of a human catapult experience.
Participants experience up to 3G of force and speeds of almost 100km per hour in 1.5 seconds, as they are propelled 150m out across a ravine before dropping towards the valley floor and experiencing a series of bounces.
The official opening of the Nevis Catapult experience brings to fruition three decades of planning and development by AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand co-founder Henry van Asch and his team.
Housed in a pod and between a series of cables, the Catapult is a combination of height, flight and speed using a bespoke high-speed winch system developed over years of research.
Specialist new technology for the multi-million-dollar Catapult was developed with the company’s research team before being built in an accredited testing facility in Christchurch and then brought to site for full scale installation, testing and commissioning.
Testing has been conducted out-of-sight for nine months – starting with weighted barrels, before moving on to test dummies and finally human testing.
The world’s first commercial bungy jump operation was established near Queenstown at the Kawarau Bridge, the ‘original home of Bungy’ in 1988.
The company – which now offers ziprides, swings, a bridge climb, tower walk and bungy experiences at five sites in Queenstown and Auckland – is set to reach one million jumps from the Kawarau Bridge Bungy Centre next month.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive, Stephen England-Hall, said: “AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand is the epitome of the Kiwi entrepreneurial spirit and their investment in cutting edge technology and new thrills is an example of how New Zealand continues to be at the forefront of adventure tourism.
“Something like this could never have been accomplished without a combination of creativity, daring, sheer Kiwi craziness and, of course, investment in years of design engineering and testing.”
Van Asch first came up with the idea when travelling around France during the 1980s with friend and bungy co-founder, AJ Hackett.
“I played around with the idea by riding my mountain bike with a Bungy cord attached, off bridges. It may have been legal,” he said.
“In 1988 we took bungy to the world, and put New Zealand on the world adventure tourism map. Thirty years on it’s wonderful to still be pushing the boundaries globally.”