A recent innovation for extreme sports athletes - using huge
inflatable airbags when training - is growing in popularity
and Central Otago is set to be the first place in New Zealand
to become an airbag base.
Wanaka BMX bikers were among the first to try their stunts on
the airbag this weekend at a local competition, and most
users labelled the new contraption "pretty cool".
Wanaka BMX biker James Keane, who organised the local "Tim
Hales Shred-a-Thon" competition, said the airbag attracted
plenty of attention from both competitors and spectators.
More than 50 riders took part in his competition, set up as a
commemorative event for former Wanaka resident and
Hamilton-raised Tim Hales, who died in Melbourne three years
ago from a malignant brain tumour.
Airbag entrepreneur Iona Sanders has imported the airbag from
Glasgow, where a group of her friends turned their idea for a
stunt training aid into reality about four years ago.
The use of airbags by many of the world's top winter sports
athletes has grown in recent times.
Nearly all of the snowboarding and aerial-influenced
disciplined teams at the Winter Olympics used the inflatable
aid to develop their training techniques.
A similar airbag was brought in by the Japanese snowboarding
team for an international snowboarding camp, held at
Cardrona, last October as preparation for the recently
completed Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Sanders, a Briton, said she planned to base the airbag in the
Southern Lakes this winter as a commercial venture, once she
had received clearance from immigration for a work visa.
The 15m by 10m bag works on dual-inflatable chamber system
and can be powered from an electrical source or generator,
she said.
Air is blown into the chambers, inflating the bag to a height
of about 3m.
"It fits really well with the local skiing and snowboarding
market, but can also be used by BMX and mountain bikers in
the summer," she said.
The airbag allowed sports people to get a feel for landing
aerial tricks without the risk of hurting themselves if a
landing went wrong, she said.
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