Queenstown workers go to extremes to get to work

Not content with zipping down a mountainside for a living, a group of adrenaline-fuelled Queenstown workers have come up with an extreme way to get to their office – and get paid for it.

Launched today (1 February) to coincide with the first day of New Zealand’s National Bikewise Month, Ziptrek Ecotours’ bike-to-work programme is designed to encourage staff to increase fitness levels and to live the company’s sustainable practice philosophy.

The town-to-office mountain bike ride is not for the fainthearted – it involves a steep (sometimes near vertical) climb from downtown Queenstown to Ziptrek’s Guest Services tree in the forest some 450m above the resort. Staff are rewarded with extra pay for making the trek under their own steam.

“It takes between 40 minutes and in some cases over an hour of hard core, first gear mountain biking riding to get there,” puffed Ziptrek managing director Trent Yeo. “It’s seriously hard yakka. But it fits well with our company philosophy and it rewards our staff for choosing a healthy and environmentally sustainable way of getting to work.

“It feels good to know we’re doing our part to reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions as well as contributing to better health, fitness and a chance to enjoy our scenery,” said Mr Yeo.

“We hope our initiative will spur more people to use a bike to get to and from work. It shouldn’t be too hard in Queenstown – there are plenty of extreme people here who do this kind of biking as a matter of course,” said Mr Yeo.

Ziptrek Ecotours is working with Wakatipu Trails Trust, Vertigo Bikes and Queenstown Mountain Bike Club to promote local community recreational mountain bike trails.

ENDS


About Ziptrek
Ziptrek Ecotours is a spectacular two-hour flying fox operation and interpretative guided tour in the forest canopy atop Skyline Gondola, high above Queenstown.

Ziptrek Ecotours takes guests on a guided two-hour flying fox journey through the forest high above Queenstown. Guests step off a series of architecturally designed and beautifully constructed aerial launch platforms to “zzziiiip” down four separate cables from tree to tree. Each ride is controlled by a guide and a patented braking system but zippers can enhance their thrill factor by zipping in different styles such as cannonball, upside down and Spiderman. Between the four different flying fox lines, Ziptrek guides deliver an interpretive commentary with an ecological focus.

‘Zippers’ either ride the Skyline Gondola or walk up the Skyline track to check in at the Ziptrek Guest Services tree.

From the moment guests check in, to the moment they complete the tour, they are in the trees, high above the ground, and privy to stunning panoramic lake and mountain views of
Queenstown and its surrounds.

Ziptrek’s all-weather, all-abilities tour operates year round and is perfect for families (min. age 7), individuals and groups.

Ziptrek tours can be booked at the company’s summer location on Shotover Street in downtown Queenstown or at the Ziptrek Treehouse located 100 metres to the left, from the top of Skyline Gondola.

About the company
Ziptrek Ecotours was founded in 2001 in Whistler, Canada, when business school graduates Charles Steele and David Udow came together to create an adventure ecotourism business. Their goal was to provide a unique experience combining nature-based learning with a rush of adrenaline. Not satisfied with traditional business models they set their sights on getting ‘back to nature’ in a way that would marry their business sensibilities with their love of the outdoors and passion for the environment.

Ziptrek has now become a must-do, award-winning adventure ecotourism business famed for delivering an awareness and appreciation of the natural environment along with a good dollop of adrenaline.

Trent Yeo, an Australian by birth and New Zealander by residence, joined the company as an employee and soon committed to a partnership that would open a Ziptrek operation in Queenstown, New Zealand. He has spent four years in the resort town researching sites and developing the business which will run to similar exacting standards as Ziptrek Whistler. The activity is expected to become an integral part of Queenstown’s adventure tourism menu.