Christchurch Adventure Park to reopen in December after being closed since Port Hills fires

Blackened trees line the trails. Picture / Matt Simons.

The $20 million mountain bike park above Christchurch badly damaged in the February fires will reopen in December.

The Christchurch Adventure Park (CAP) had only just opened when the rampaging Port Hills fires caused widespread damage.

It's been closed ever since, with hundreds of burnt trees having to be removed over 242ha.

Christchurch Adventure Park spokeswoman Anne Newman said today that the park would
reopen on December 5.

"It has been a really tough year," she said.

"Not only have we had to deal with the fires and rebuild we have also had one of the wettest winters on record. This has meant that the logging and subsequently the trail building have been significantly impacted."

The 26-tonne haul rope for the chairlift has now been replaced along with all four zip lines while park staff continue to rebuild the existing mountain bike trails.

The fire resulted in approximately 242ha of trees needing to be logged.

"Unfortunately you can't take out the volume of trees that needed to be removed without damaging our trails," Newman said.

"What we have been left with is a hillside that is totally unrecognisable.

"It is really important for the public to understand that it will take some time to rebuild all the trails we had prior to the fire. When we re-open we will have the coaching/green trail available and we'll reopen other trails over summer as they are finished. We've also planned some spectacular new trails for the public to ride. But it will take time."

A significant section of the park has been replanted already. The village containing the 200-seat café, bike rental and guest services was fortunate to have escaped the fire.

"We'd like to thank the community for their ongoing support, it has got us through some dark days and we know they will be understanding as we gradually reopen trails as soon as they are rebuilt," Newman added.

The Christchurch Adventure Park officially opened on December 16 last year with New Zealand's longest chairlift at 1.8km long and New Zealand's longest and highest zip line.

It was open for eight weeks before it was closed down due to the Port Hills fires on February 13.

In its eight weeks of operation it welcomed over 50,000 visitors.