Kiwi innovator continues to push boundaries
Life is never dull in business or leisure for Henry van Asch. Co-founder of AJ Hackett Bungy, and now the current Director of the Bungy New Zealand Group, the High Plains Wine Company and the Winehouse & Kitchen Restaurant.
Born in Christchurch, in the South Island, Henry was educated at Christ’s College, where he was a champion rower and talented sportsperson. Setting up his own sports promotion company - Fun Innovators Ltd, Henry was a serious skier, with a top speed of 194kph and regularly competed on the European speed skiing circuit. On skis, he became the first Kiwi to exceed 100 miles per hour on Mount Ruapehu, holding the New Zealand speed record, winning the New Zealand Championships for several years.
He was also New Zealand’s first mountain bike downhill champion in 1988, and represented New Zealand at the 1998 World Downhill Championships.
It was during a ski season in Wanaka in 1985 that Henry first met AJ Hackett. The following year Hackett mentioned to van Asch an idea for the ultimate personal challenge - with a ‘rubber thing’ and they were both convinced that others would pay to experience the bungy adrenaline rush.
After months of rigorous testing and implementation of the highest safety standards, high profile jumps from locations such as the Eiffel Tower ensued in 1987, and a worldwide audience was captivated.
As a result, the first commercial AJ Hackett bungy sites opened at Kawarau Bridge and Skippers Bridge in Queenstown in November 1988.
In 1997, van Asch took over the New Zealand operations and Hackett, who now lives in France, the other international sites. Despite the split, Henry is still able to develop bungy interests outside New Zealand, and Henry and AJ share joint ownership of the AJ Hackett Bungy brand.
Since then, the past nine years have seen incredible developments with the Nevis Highwire in Queenstown and a multi-million dollar development at the original Kawarau Bridge site. Visitors can now enjoy a glass of Henry’s Freefall sauvignon blanc or Central Otago pinot noir or participate in an interactive tour around the facility on the ‘Secrets of Bungy’ experience.
In his spare moments, Henry collects contemporary New Zealand art, classic cars (more than a dozen Land Rovers), and mountain bikes (including 10 years worth of competition bikes).
In 2005, Henry became the first adventure tourism pioneer to be awarded the Officer of the New Zealand order of merit.
Two new adrenalin fuelled rides to get the heart racing, will be released at the Nevis site in 2007. The ‘Nevis Arc’ a 125-metre swing and the ‘Black Box’ a 200-metre bungy, which will include a ‘Via Ferrata’ iron pathway, back to civilisation.
Forty-three-year-old Henry is based in Queenstown with his wife Caroline and three young sons.
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