Very very very........very scary - Shotover Canyon SWING
I have been meaning to do a bunjy for a while and where else to do it but in the home of bunjy - Queenstown! On our research on adventures in Queenstown we came across SWING, which has branched out of bunjy. It is regarded as more entertaining but less scary than bunjy. Having experienced SWING twice, I would say it is definitely a hair raising expereince.....
SWING is a relatively new thrill activity, established by two local Queenstown friends - Haggis and Harry. Mind you they personally gear up all the potential swingers at the platform, which I think shows they are still SWING enthusiasts and have not been drifted away by its commercialisation.
Basically, you are secured in a full body harness which leaves your arms and legs free to do what they want and allows you to depart from the platform in any position imaginable. The rest of the work is left over to gravity.
Upon your departure from the platform you will have a pure freefall of 60m/200ft before the swing lines take up the tension and swing you into a massive smooth 200m arc at 150kph!
From the brochure I decided to go for a "pin drop" which involves stading stiff on the platform and popping off on the side. The idea was to watch the ground rocket up to meet me. But as I reached the platform and saw the ground far....far below me, I chickend out. I told the guys I cannot do it, I will not do it....infact I am not going to do it!
I suggested I would do a backwards jump coz that way I would not be able to see the ground below me and freak out. Harry thought it was a bad idea and I would not manage. But they were in for a surprise ........
I put my hands behind my head and and slowly tilted backwards. In my mind I imagined I was slowly falling in to the Universe with no gravity...........hmmm........lets say I should have drawn a more realistic picture in my mind. Coz the moment I fell off the platform I went down at an unimaginable speed like a lump of meat. My eyes bulged out and my voice got stuffed in my throat. I felt numb and then just swung in the air aimlessly (not that I had any control over my movement). The experience lasted a few minutes and then I was pulled up by the guys.
As I got back to the platform I felt something was missing. I had not felt the ultimate fear (whatever that means!) So I decided to go for another jump........
I was suggested "Gimp boy goes to Hollywood". In this position they put you over the jump zone and position you to be upside down staring directly at the ground. So here I was at the platform - again - thinking I would jump confidently.....boy was i wrong or was I wrong!
First of all, just as they were about to suspend me over the jump zone, Harry realised a hook had come off my gear - apparently this was a critical hook and fortunately they saw it come off in the nick of time. As they positioned me over the jump zone, I panicked...again. I told Harry this was a mistake and I got caught up in the moment and I want to come back to the platform. The boys just laughed at me and released me. With my hands pointing to the river and back arched I rocketed in to the canyon. Fear gripped me and I gasped for breath. Just around this time I heard something snap and I thought this is it, the ropes are going to break and I will hit the ground and tear to pieces. I said a little prayer - "God please save me this time around"!
All this happened in a snap and before I knew it I was swinging again and on my way up. I knew I would be fine. However, once I got off at the platform I realised I was shaking and could not stand still. But I was just happy to be alive..in one piece....
Overall, I think SWING gives you an instant rush that is more of a quickie, as opposed to a sky dive where the free fall does last a while. What is commendable about SWING is that you can only do it if YOU jump, unlike sky dive where the tadem diver jumps and takes you down with him.
Vivek jumped before I did. He chose the backwards jump and had a hard time letting go of the platform. Given that he was the first one to jump in the entire group, he had not seen anyone else jump to gain some confidence. In the end he did manage to jump .....but it remains a mystery whether he managed to bring himself to jump or simply lost balanc and stumbled off the platform! There is a cute picture of him trying to hold on to something on his way down.
I must say Harry and Haggis are some of the few remarkable people I have met. They were extremely patient and actually quite comical and made the whole SWING thing fun.
SWING is a relatively new thrill activity, established by two local Queenstown friends - Haggis and Harry. Mind you they personally gear up all the potential swingers at the platform, which I think shows they are still SWING enthusiasts and have not been drifted away by its commercialisation.
Basically, you are secured in a full body harness which leaves your arms and legs free to do what they want and allows you to depart from the platform in any position imaginable. The rest of the work is left over to gravity.
Upon your departure from the platform you will have a pure freefall of 60m/200ft before the swing lines take up the tension and swing you into a massive smooth 200m arc at 150kph!
From the brochure I decided to go for a "pin drop" which involves stading stiff on the platform and popping off on the side. The idea was to watch the ground rocket up to meet me. But as I reached the platform and saw the ground far....far below me, I chickend out. I told the guys I cannot do it, I will not do it....infact I am not going to do it!
I suggested I would do a backwards jump coz that way I would not be able to see the ground below me and freak out. Harry thought it was a bad idea and I would not manage. But they were in for a surprise ........
I put my hands behind my head and and slowly tilted backwards. In my mind I imagined I was slowly falling in to the Universe with no gravity...........hmmm........lets say I should have drawn a more realistic picture in my mind. Coz the moment I fell off the platform I went down at an unimaginable speed like a lump of meat. My eyes bulged out and my voice got stuffed in my throat. I felt numb and then just swung in the air aimlessly (not that I had any control over my movement). The experience lasted a few minutes and then I was pulled up by the guys.
As I got back to the platform I felt something was missing. I had not felt the ultimate fear (whatever that means!) So I decided to go for another jump........
I was suggested "Gimp boy goes to Hollywood". In this position they put you over the jump zone and position you to be upside down staring directly at the ground. So here I was at the platform - again - thinking I would jump confidently.....boy was i wrong or was I wrong!
First of all, just as they were about to suspend me over the jump zone, Harry realised a hook had come off my gear - apparently this was a critical hook and fortunately they saw it come off in the nick of time. As they positioned me over the jump zone, I panicked...again. I told Harry this was a mistake and I got caught up in the moment and I want to come back to the platform. The boys just laughed at me and released me. With my hands pointing to the river and back arched I rocketed in to the canyon. Fear gripped me and I gasped for breath. Just around this time I heard something snap and I thought this is it, the ropes are going to break and I will hit the ground and tear to pieces. I said a little prayer - "God please save me this time around"!
All this happened in a snap and before I knew it I was swinging again and on my way up. I knew I would be fine. However, once I got off at the platform I realised I was shaking and could not stand still. But I was just happy to be alive..in one piece....
Overall, I think SWING gives you an instant rush that is more of a quickie, as opposed to a sky dive where the free fall does last a while. What is commendable about SWING is that you can only do it if YOU jump, unlike sky dive where the tadem diver jumps and takes you down with him.
Vivek jumped before I did. He chose the backwards jump and had a hard time letting go of the platform. Given that he was the first one to jump in the entire group, he had not seen anyone else jump to gain some confidence. In the end he did manage to jump .....but it remains a mystery whether he managed to bring himself to jump or simply lost balanc and stumbled off the platform! There is a cute picture of him trying to hold on to something on his way down.
I must say Harry and Haggis are some of the few remarkable people I have met. They were extremely patient and actually quite comical and made the whole SWING thing fun.