Photo : Ben Wilkins
touch was everywhere adding beautiful colours to the already stunning Queenstown scenery . Our steed ’ s for this portion of the ride were Yamaha ’ s WR250F and 450F shod with Metzeler ’ s MC360 road-legal dirt tyres . They ’ re aggressive looking dirt tyres which are suitable for full-on enduro work but I was surprised at how well they tackled the tar-seal on the way from Queenstown centre up to the Skippers Canyon gravel road . At the saddle marking the start of the road we stopped to take in the view . There ’ d been some light snow overnight , which hadn ’ t melted yet , bringing a feeling of depth to the view down into the canyon . It ’ s at this point Scotty Columb tells us this is ranked as the 7 th most dangerous road in the world . Looking at the switchbacks hugging the steep slopes , with big drops to the valley floor below , it wasn ’ t tricky to see why that ’ s the case – it could easily be game-over if you overshot a corner . It didn ’ t take more than a kilometre to get into the flow of the bends , dips and rises of the road , our enduro machines proving to be the perfect lightweight tools for the job – light , nimble and able to turn and stop far more quickly than any big adventure bike . In fact , it would be very easy
for it all to go wrong as confidence grows and speeds rise . Looking down some of the drops was enough to curb too much throttle use . The depths of the canyon were well below the ‘ crisp ’ we ’ d experienced in town and it was with some relief we stopped in the warmth of the sun next to the Skippers Canyon Jet operation . I ’ ve done a few jet boat rides over the years , but the Skippers Canyon ride is well worth the trip up the canyon . A
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