Pushing the limits
Thrill seekers – how would you like to be propelled 150 metres out across a ravine, before dropping suddenly towards the valley floor and experiencing a series of jaw-dropping bounces?
If that sounds right up your alley, then it’s time to plan a trip to the remote Nevis Valley near Queenstown, New Zealand, where the Nevis Catapult awaits.
Newly launched (no pun intended) by AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand, the catapult is an adventure tourism experience like no other, allowing participants to experience up to 3G of force and speeds of up to 100 km per hour in just 1.5 seconds.
Housed in a pod and between a series of cables, it combines height, flight and speed using a bespoke high-speed winch system, for the ultimate rush.
The official opening of the experience comes after three decades of planning and development by AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand co-founder Henry van Asch, together with the AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand team.
The idea was first conceptualised while van Asch was travelling around France in the 1980s with friend and later co-founder of the company 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 says.
The unveiling of the new experience coincides with the company’s 30th year.
“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,” he said.
