Let’s give it a go!: Canyon swing

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Why? We were in Queenstown, the reputed adventure capital of the world, so we thought we should face our fear and try at least one adventurous activity. We really wanted to try zorbing, which seemed more fun than dangerous, but it turns out that’s only available on the North Island. We kept seeing ads for the Shotover Canyon Swing, and it was highly rated on tripadvisor, so we decided that if we were going to do something adventurous, that would be our choice. The decision to actually do it took a lot longer and involved several trips into and out of the storefront before we finally bought our tickets.

How did it go? It was terrifying, but I was glad to have done it, and the swing part at the end of the free fall was actually fun. It didn’t quite hit me how terrifying it was going to be until we were all harnessed in and the operators were trying to get us to step up to the edge. They kept asking cheery questions about where we were from etc to distract us, and we just made up answers because we were too preoccupied by our impending fall to our deaths. I was muttering about backing out, and I think Jeremy would have joined me, but the operators didn’t give us a chance to reconsider. They kept up their chatter and convinced us to step up to the edge “just” to take a couple of photos, and next thing we knew, we were falling to the bottom of the canyon. The free fall went by so quickly that I don’t remember it, but it transitioned smoothly into swinging across the canyon, which was fun.

Would you do it again? They actually give you the option to do a second jump within the next day or so for a fraction of the price. If I’d considered it for a few more minutes, I probably would have gone again while we were there (and done a different style of jump–you could hang upside down, or sit in a chair, for example). Unfortunately, I took my harness off while I was still thinking about how terrifying the initial jump had been. I did keep thinking about going back the next day, and if it hadn’t been a bus-ride away, I might have done it. Instead, I did something much more fun, which will be the subject of the next Let’s give it a go! post. I don’t think there’s any way Jeremy would do it again.

4 thoughts on “Let’s give it a go!: Canyon swing

  1. This is nothing short of impressive. I’m trying to think of what would have to happen to get me to jump. Perhaps if a giant tarantula was on the platform next to me.

    If we combined this with FTL, I might consider doubling points for anyone who texted me their picks during the free fall.

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