Heli-canyoning proposal passes stage one of EOI process

An exciting proposal from a North West Tasmanian adventure tourism business has passed Stage One of the government’s EOI process for new developments in protected areas.

Award winning company Cradle Mountain Canyons proposes to run ‘heli-canyoning’ tours to a remote river in the vicinity of Cradle Mountain. Small groups would board a helicopter at Cradle Mountain with two guides and travel to the unnamed river. They would then spend an action packed day jumping and abseiling down waterfalls, before flying back to the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre.

The proposal will stamp Tasmania on the world map as a must visit destination for adventurers.

Heli-canyoning operations exist in New Zealand and Switzerland, but this will be a first for Australia.

Cradle Mountain Canyons’ owner Anthony O’Hern said the tours would be an iconic draw card to North West Tasmania. “This is an amazing part of one of the world’s great wilderness areas and there is no other way to experience it,” Mr. O’Hern said. “We are targeting this at the adventure connoisseur – people prepared to pay a premium for unique experiences in remote locations.”

Mr O’Hern also noted the potential for the project to cause some controversy, “helicopters in the World Heritage Area always raise concerns for some people. However, the river we are planning to run these tours on is located beneath the current flight path of the scenic flight helicopters at Cradle Mountain. The scenic flights company might fly that route ten times on a busy day, so we think us doing perhaps twenty or thirty trips per year into that spot could be done without adding an impact on other users of the area.”

Canyoning is generally seen as an activity with a very low environmental impact. Small groups leave little trace of their movement through the canyon.

Having passed Stage One of the process, Cradle Mountain Canyons will now need to provide more detail about the proposal to the government and consult widely with stakeholders. All going well, the business hopes to run Australia’s first heli-canyoning tour in January 2017

Cradle Mountain Canyons is the only business in Tasmania offering guided canyoning tours. The business began operations in December 2010, won Gold at the 2013 Tasmanian Tourism Awards and is a three-time winner at the Cradle Coast Tourism Awards. On a full day tour through the Dove Canyon, Cradle Mountain Canyons’ participants abseil, jump off waterfalls and slide down natural waterslides..
Anthony O’Hern, www.cradlemountaincanyons.com.au