What News and Safety Information Does CHGPC Share?

Updated

The Canterbury Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club (CHGPC) uses the "Latest News" section of chgpc.org.nz to publish safety talks, site-specific hazard briefings, and rescue training recaps for its members. Posts typically combine a short written summary with recordings or supplemental slides, and they cover practical topics such as water rescues, cliff and cableway hazards, and general airsport safety for newer pilots.

Recent posts on the site

Post Presenter(s) Date shown Topic
Sumner Rescue Training & Zephyr Bevan Small, Ryan Vorster, Kyle Zhou Jun 9 (talk given Thu 28 May 2026) Water rescues with the Sumner Life Saving Club; demo of Zephyrapp.nz by its creator Kyle
Deep dive: Cliffs & Castle Rock Ross Groom, with support from Jean Brossard Apr 29 (talk given Thu 9 Apr 2026) Site-specific hazards at cliffs and Castle Rock; supplemental slides on Gondola & Castle Rock
Focus on Safety Simon Dec 13, 2025 Safety in airsports, with some focus on newer pilots

What kinds of safety information appear

  • Rescue and emergency response — the Sumner post covers club members' experience with the Sumner Life Saving Club on water rescues, plus a walkthrough of the Zephyrapp.nz tool.
  • Site-specific hazards — the Cliffs & Castle Rock talk addresses terrain and site risks, supported by slides that also cover the Gondola area.
  • General airsport safety — the Focus on Safety recording is aimed partly at newer pilots.

Site rules published alongside the news

The site also carries standing safety notices, separate from the news posts. The most prominent is the Gondola 100m rule: pilots flying at the Christchurch Gondola site must keep more than 100m away from all cableways and buildings at all times. A full notice is linked from the homepage. This is the kind of hard rule worth reading before flying that site, not just background reading.

How to use these materials

  1. Open chgpc.org.nz and go to the Latest News section.
  2. Pick a post relevant to where or how you fly — for example, the Cliffs & Castle Rock deep dive if you fly that terrain, or Focus on Safety if you are newly certified.
  3. Check whether a recording or supplemental slides are linked; the site notes that supplemental information is sometimes "coming soon," so not every post is complete at publication.
  4. For anything not covered by a post, use the Club Info page to find the relevant committee member, or email [email protected].

Practical notes

  • Posts are dated and attributed to named presenters, so you can judge how current a talk is.
  • The site also links to a weather chat and a Sites section (for example, Taylor's Mistake), which sit alongside the news as day-to-day planning tools.
  • Some posts explicitly flag that supplemental material will follow, so if a topic matters to you, it is worth revisiting the page later.