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Thrill seekers who want an aerial view of Christchurch’s Sumner Beach or Hanmer Springs won’t have to wait long with the launch of two new skydiving attractions this year.
Ashburton-based Skydiving Kiwis is in the final stages of preparing for skydiving over Sumner Beach, which has been in process for almost two years.
Kiwis skydiving director Lee Barraclough said it would be New Zealand’s first skydiving landing on a beach.
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Skydiving director Kiwis Lee Barraclough takes a tandem parachute jump with a client.
Barraclough expected to open in June or July and expected a jump to cost around $ 300.
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The jumps would be performed between 3900 meters and 4570 m (13,000 to 15,000 feet), which would allow a free fall of 45 seconds to one minute.
“Opening at Sumner has been a dream for me since I was surfing here at Sumner as a child, so the feeling and level of excitement are off the charts,” said Barraclough.
The company also introduced skydiving in Hanmer Springs later this month to coincide with the reopening of the hot water pools.
The small resort town has been hit hard by Covid-19, with the Heritage Hotel closing permanently and several job losses in the hot pools.
Barraclough was confident that there would be enough domestic appetite for adventure companies to create a new sustainable business model after Covid-19.
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Skydiving Kiwis director Lee Barraclough says his instructors are eager to start training sessions and try jumps.
He hoped skydiving in Sumner would become a “precious asset” to the community, and other local businesses would benefit from additional visitors.
For starters, there will be four flights a day and the parachutists will land in a 400 square meter cordoned off part of Sumner Beach between Cave Rock and Shag Rock.
The helicopter flight to the jump point will also take customers to the city of Christchurch.
Barraclough said his team of instructors was eager to start training sessions and test jumps with the helicopter’s crew.
Skydiving Kiwis was working in association with Garden City Helicopters (GCH) to provide the jumps. It is understood to be the first time that New Zealand paratroopers have been able to jump from a helicopter instead of a plane.
GCH Marketing Manager Caroline Blanchfield said that while it seemed like an odd time to introduce a new product, this was a time to innovate with a new experience “to put Christchurch on the national map and then on the international map.”
She thought the jumps would attract Kiwis “in search of a new emotion.”
