World’s biggest catapult opens at AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand

IT’S a wild ride like nothing you’ve ever experienced before — and these Aussie travellers were the first in the world to try this new attraction.

IT’S a wild ride like nothing you’ve ever experienced before — a catapult reaching almost 100km/h in 1.5 seconds, propelling thrillseekers 150m across a ravine and through a series of jaw-dropping bounces.

Officially launched at AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand today, the Nevis Catapult is billed as the world’s biggest and most extreme catapult.

First to try out the new attraction were Aussie thrillseekers and Go-Pro ambassadors Sam Evans and Kurt Tilse.

As for their review? In a word: “epic”.

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The man behind it — AJ Hackett co-founder Henry van Asch — describes the ride as “gut-wrenching”.

“The experience is exhilarating. Up to 3Gs of force and acceleration of around 100km in 1.5 seconds is not your typical experience — and I think people are going to get a pretty big kick out of it,” van Asch says.

Nevis Catapult, New Zealand. Picture: James D. Morgan

“For me, the most exciting part of it is how surprising it is — the speed, the height and then the sudden drop. You don’t know exactly when you’re going to go either and that adds to the fun.”

Housed in a pod and between a series of cables, alongside the Nevis Swing, the Catapult is a unique combination of height, flight and speed.

Nevis Catapult, New Zealand. Picture: James D. Morgan

Van Asch says the concept was dreamt up years ago — “after seeing a guy skydiving out of a plane with his bike, we wanted to try our bungy version of that” — but took decades, and millions of dollars, to bring to life in the Nevis Valley near Queenstown.

“Seeing an idea that you had as a crazy kid come to life 30 years later is hard to describe,” he says.

Nevis Catapult, New Zealand. Picture: James D. Morgan

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