Parachutes Over Nelson

Probably the two most anxious moments for a parachutist are when he pulls the ripcord and the moment of landing. At Nelson airport recently, during a contest between members of the Nelson and Canterbury Parachute Clubs, an effort was made to eliminate at least one of these anxious moments by providing a £30 mattress for the contestants to land on. But they all missed. The mattress was the major prize in this contest. It was won by the Nelson club captain, Alex McQuibban, with 928 points.

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Mcquibban on the way down in his first jump

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Peter Wylie and his distinctive crossbow chute - one of two in the country

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McQuibban lands inches short of the target

The one well-known Kiwi expression that you don't hear from parachutists when they check their equipment is: "She'll be right." It's only "right" when it's perfect.

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After landing chutes are repacked with infinite care.

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There's no room for error in this game.

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Laurie Cairns (Nelson) has his equipment checked by Peter Wylie (Canterbury) while Dave Frost looks on.

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Dave's gear was fine, but he went off the line somewhere and landed in the swamp.