AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand co-founder Henry van Asch today (8 August) revealed a new world-first adventure tourism experience – the Nevis Catapult – in the remote Nevis Valley near Queenstown, New Zealand.

The Catapult sees thrill seekers 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 suddenly towards the valley floor and experiencing a series of jaw-dropping bounces.

The official opening of this experience brings to fruition three decades of planning and development by Mr van Asch and the AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand team.

Housed in a pod and between a series of cables, alongside the infamous Nevis Swing, the Catapult is a unique 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 over the past nine months – beginning with weighted barrels, before moving on to a test dummy phase 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 (September 2018).

For more info, visit https://www.bungy.co.nz/queenstown/nevis/nevis-catapult/

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