Alpine Rigging flies high with Kinesys Apex
- Details
Alpine Rigging was founded by Brent Armstrong in 2011 and works in all sectors of the entertainment and leisure industry, including sports events, e-sports and competitive video gaming, as well as corporates / industrials and music-based shows - concerts, festivals and touring.
It was the touring market that led Armstrong initially to Kinesys where he perceives it to be “the industry leader” in automation systems, and Alpine’s initial Kinesys purchases came in 2015, comprising 23 half-ton Liftket motors with Kinesys Elevation drives and Vector control. These have been working constantly ever since.
The purchase was prompted by a series of events for famous video game developer and e-sports tournament organizer Riot Games, where the requirement was to move large LED walls. It was time for Alpine to invest in the kit rather than sub-rent.
Armstrong and his crew are all now extremely comfortable with the practicalities and philosophies of Kinesys operation, having engaged in training which is organised regularly in the US by David Bond, who heads the North American office.
“It has proved extremely versatile across all the different shows on which we work” says Brent.
Seeing a general increase in demand for safely flying people and objects over audiences, which Kinesys’ Apex products are specifically designed to address, Brent decided to make another investment, purchasing five Apex Hoists, which went directly out on the 2018 Dierks Bentley tour via Christie Lites, providing a specific custom rigging solution in addition to their standard rigging and automation.
These specialised chain hoists were used to elevate the artist himself on a platform which rolls and pitches.
The Apex hoists have also been used on other recent major events including Central Church’s Christmas Special in Las Vegas, a complex and spectacular production that used every piece of Alpine’s Kinesys kit, with the Apex’s used to move a massive video wall.
The company also has 16 Kinesys LibraCELLs for load monitoring and have just purchased Kinesys’ powerful and flexible K2 software control package.
(Jim Evans)
