Adventure Park reopened a year
More than 200,000 people have visited the Christchurch Adventure Park (CAP) in the year since it reopened after rebuilding from the Port Hills fires.
But it has not all been good news for CAP, which is now more exposed to the weather and has higher maintenance costs after the trees that once protected the mountain bike trails were cut down due to damage from the fires. There is also a legal battle looming over whether the park spread the fires by keeping its chairlift running.
The $25 million park – which offers mountain biking, ziplining, sightseeing and a cafe – first opened in December 2016. It was open for just eight weeks before the devastating Port Hills fires swept through the grounds in February 2017, damaging the 26.5-tonne chairlift tow rope and four ziplines. Damaged trees later had to be removed from 240 of the park’s 365 hectares.
After a 10-month rebuild, it reopened on December 5, 2017, with just three mountain bike trails, the ziplines and the cafe.
Fast-forward 12 months and the park now offers 20 trails catering for beginners to advanced mountain bikers. Another trail is expected to open in the coming weeks.
General manager Anne Newman said there was ‘‘no denying it has been a rough start for CAP’’.
The loss of trees has left the trails exposed to the elements, leading to higher maintenance costs and the need for more drainage to be installed.
The trails were destroyed when the trees were removed, and their rebuild had to be funded out of the park’s cashflow as there is no insurance on dirt in New Zealand.
Newman said two-thirds of the park’s burnt area was replanted in pine last year, while native trees would soon be planted in some areas, such as the base station and around the chairlift line.
The park had an entirely different offering the second time round, but what was there was ‘‘world class’’, she said.
More than 200,000 people were estimated to have visited the park since it reopened, including about 80,000 bikers and 6500 zipliners. ‘‘The numbers are gathering momentum as we head into summer, and that includes October having the highest ever number of people on ziplines and the highest number of bikers and uplifts in any month since we have reopened.’’
The park was considering a business case for the mountain coaster that was originally planned as a first expansion, and looking at options such as high ropes courses, rock climbing, and kids activities, Newman said.
A High Court action over liability for the Port Hills fires is still pending. Insurance company IAG is working with policy holders in a court action alleging blame against Leisure Investments, which owns CAP, and the Christchurch City Council-owned lines company Orion Group.
It has been alleged that CAP’s chairlift spread the fire down the hill, which then burned up over a ridge and destroyed houses. The chairlift was left operating through the first five days of the fire in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent any one part from being damaged by the heat.
Newman confirmed the case was ongoing but said there was no update.
To celebrate being reopen for a year, CAP is offering a $100
10-pass for mountain bikers for
90 days – a deal that was a fan favourite before it was taken away in August, resulting in a public backlash.