The Chair of Death - Shotover Canyon Swing

Those are tears of happiness...

There is nothing overly frightening or stimulating about sitting in a plastic lawn chair. It is however a completely different story when you are suspended off the side of a cliff, 110m above the Shotover River. Shotover Canyon Swing is known as the world’s highest cliff jump. There are over 70 different jump styles available for customers, and I opted to be strapped to the “chair of death” (it actually says that on the bottom of the chair). I thought after conquering The Ledge Bungy, that a canyon swing would be a piece of a cake, as it was supposed to be nothing more than a giant swing that just happened to reach speeds of 150km/h.

All resolve and composure I managed to maintain completely fell apart as soon as I sat in the chair. A steady stream of tears on my part brought around a bout of laughter and teasing from the two jump masters. The employees at Shotover Canyon Swing are great. They are outgoing and their enthusiasm is contagious. Part of the Shotover Canyon experience is the banter between yourself and the jump masters, as they play up the whole experience and try to get a reaction out of you. As you can see from my video, they definitely got one out of me... I have never been more scared in my life. The fear and anxiety I felt before doing the bungy the week before, was nothing compared to what I was feeling at the swing. I am a very visual person, and being able too see that I was about to be pushed of a cliff in a lawn chair, was enough to send me over the edge. Literally. I reckon the reason that the staff try and mess with your head beforehand, is because the canyon swing it's self isn't that scary. As soon as I was pushed off the cliff, I instantly regretted the tears, and felt extremely embarrassed.The swing was actually fun! It was quite enjoyable and peacful to swing back and forth over the canyon, taking in the miraculous sights of the valley and river below. I thankfully was not the only one to lose my composure and shed a few tears. A video that is worthy of being played on America's Funniest Home Videos can be found on my friend and class mate Kate's blog.