Jaunted

Adventure Travel

Feeling Brave? Swing Over the Shotover

December 19, 2007 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

Feel like taking a gentle, relaxing swing? Then the Shotover Canyon Swing near Queenstown, New Zealand, is probably not for you.

The name itself is fantastic--the Swing is above the Shotover River--and the experience sounds pretty amazing too. After you jump off a platform built into the edge of a cliff above the river:

You'll have a pure free fall of 200 feet into the canyon before the ropes smoothly pendulum you to a giant swing arc of 650 feet at 95 mph. The free fall/swing journey is so smooth you'll barely notice when you've finished free falling and begun your swing. After a number of swings across the canyon we'll winch you swiftly back up to the platform.

The Shotover Canyon Swing gang offer ten options for your jump style, including forwards, backwards, doing a flip, the cutaway, pin drop and the intriguing Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood jump. Each comes with a scariness rating to choose the jump that's right for you, but we'd go Gimp Boy for the name alone.

Related Stories:
· Shotover Canyon Swing [Official Site]
· Queenstown Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Queenstown Hotels [HotelChatter]

[Photo: markc123]