Tuesday 18 May 2004

Glass lift promises daring ride up sky tower

Sky Tower is today opening what is hailed as a world first attraction with a lift that not only has glass viewing doors but also has a glass floor.

The lift has been fitted with 38 mm safety glass floor which allows passengers to see down into the lift shaft in addition to viewing Auckland city via the front windows of the lift, as they ride up and down the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.

The newly refurbished “Dare to Ride” lift will make the 196 metre trip up Sky Tower even more thrilling than before said General Manager Sky Tower and Hotel, Jan Hunt.

“As New Zealand’s most visited stand alone tourism attraction (more than 50% of international visitors to the city experience Sky Tower), Sky Tower is continually refreshing its product offerings and this is one example of that.

“Recently we opened our new retail store at the base of Sky Tower, installed three revolutionary Eye in the Sky Tower live interactive camera kiosks in the main observation deck and introduced the two unique tourism adventure products – Sky Jump and Vertigo Climb just over two years ago.

“We have a number exciting plans for the future also and are actually in the process of conducting a feasibility study on the possibility of launching a bungy jump off Sky Tower.

The “Dare to Ride” lift is available to all Sky Tower customers from today (Tuesday 18 May 2004). A sign will ask people to choose if they “Dare To Ride” in the lift with the glass floor or not.

Noel Moselen, Auckland Service Manager from Schindler Lifts (the company who developed the lift), says it was an engineering feat that took over six months from conception to completion. “We had to totally redesign the entire lift from our head office in Switzerland - I certainly do not know of any other lift with glass floor features to this extent,” he says. Ms Hunt, who today took the inaugural test ride up in the lift, explains it as “thrilling but also very safe.’”

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer another unique entertainment experience for Sky Tower customers.

“Should anyone riding the lift feel nervous at any time, they can simply move around the glass floor segment which takes up approximately one third of the floor space,” she says.

ENDS

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