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.
