What is the Canterbury Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club (CHGPC) website?

chgpc.org.nz is the official website of the Canterbury Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club (CHGPC), the club for hang glider and paraglider pilots flying in Christchurch and the wider Canterbury region of New Zealand. It works as a practical hub for anyone flying these sites: site information and local rules, weather access, club news and safety talks, and contact details for the committee. It is aimed at both club members and visiting or prospective pilots who need to understand how flying works in this region before they launch.

What you'll find on the site

The homepage is organised around a few recurring blocks, each pointing to a different kind of information.

Flying sites

A Our Sites section lists the club's flying locations, with Taylor's Mistake appearing as one example. Site pages are where local knowledge lives — access, conditions, and any site-specific restrictions.

Local rules and notices

The site publishes safety notices that apply at particular sites. The most prominent example on the homepage is the Gondola 100m rule:

Please ensure you keep MORE THAN 100m away from all cableways and buildings AT ALL TIMES while flying at the Christchurch Gondola site.

A full notice is linked from that block. If you plan to fly near the Gondola, treat this as a hard constraint rather than a guideline, and read the full notice before you go.

Weather

A Weather section links to the club's weather chat, which is where members discuss conditions. For a region where coastal and valley sites behave differently, this is the club's shared starting point for deciding whether a day is flyable.

Club news and safety material

The Latest News section carries write-ups and recordings of club talks. Recent entries include:

• Sumner Rescue Training & Zephyr — a presentation by Bevan Small, Ryan Vorster, and Kyle Zhou (May 28, 2026) covering the Sumner Life Saving Club's water rescue experience and a demonstration of Zephyrapp.nz by its creator, Kyle Zhou.
• Deep dive: Cliffs & Castle Rock — a presentation by Ross Groom with support from Jean Brossard (April 9, 2026), with supplemental slides on the Gondola and Castle Rock.
• Focus on Safety — a recorded club talk by Simon on safety in airsports, with some focus on newer pilots (December 13, 2025).

These are useful if you want to understand local hazards — water rescues at Sumner, the cliffs and Castle Rock area, and general airsports safety — from people flying these sites.

Contact

For anything not covered on the site, the Club Info page lists specific committee members to contact, and there is a general address: [email protected].

Who it's for

• Club members — site rules, weather discussion, news, and committee contacts in one place.
• Visiting pilots — the site-specific notices (such as the Gondola 100m rule) and site list are what you need before flying unfamiliar ground.
• New or prospective pilots — the safety talks and site information give a realistic picture of what flying in Canterbury involves.

Practical notes

• The site does not publish membership pricing or payment details on the pages described here, so check the Club Info page or email the committee for current membership and joining information.
• Weather content sits behind the club's weather chat rather than as a standalone forecast, so expect it to be a discussion space rather than an automated forecast tool.
• Site rules can change; the notices on the homepage are dated by context, so confirm current restrictions with the club before flying a site you haven't flown recently.