Zipline and High Ropes Course Skills and Safety
Techniques for Safety at Aerial Adventure Parks and Ziplines
Jun 25, 2009
Zip lines used to be the stuff of National Geographic features. Biologists swung through the treetops of a Costa Rican jungle to study monkeys or research the arboreal ecosystem, while everyone else watched in awe on television. But in recent years, recreational zip lines and the related high ropes courses have popped up in places ranging from Alaska to South Africa, and in every environment in between.
An aerial adventure park might be constructed of a series of ziplines, a high ropes course (sort of an obstacle course that hangs on ropes suspended from trees), or some combination. Some ziplines are only 50 or 100 feet long; others are hundreds of feet long, and can be 50 or more (sometimes many more) feet above the ground.
How Safe is the Construction of Ziplines and Ropes Courses?
For the most part, ziplines and related aerial obstacle courses have a good safety record, partly because zipline construction uses systems – ropes and pulleys – that are simple and non-motorized. But accidents do happen, generally for one of three reasons: human error (such as incorrect use of a harness), equipment wearing out (a rope or cable breaking, sometimes because it is not replaced frequently enough), and lack of proper redundancy safety features (so that if one part of the system breaks, another takes its place).
In the United States, three separate authorities keep an eye on adventure courses and how they are constructed: local and state governments, insurance companies, and accrediting organizations (which also offer supervision of the designers and installers of adventure courses). Specification lists of safety requirements, including limits on the weight ropes should be rated to be able to hold and how cables are strung and fixed, have been developed by the Association of Challenge Course Technology and the Association of Zipline Technology. As a result, ziplining accidents in the U.S. are few and far between – if courses have been properly installed, inspected, and certified.
While traveling in both the U.S. and abroad, use your best critical judgment. It's difficult for a layman to evaluate the safety of a technical installation, but there are a few things to look for. Is the course a major operation that has been in business for a long time with a good safety record? Beyond that, how does it look? Are the ropes clean looking or are they frayed? Have the gloves worn through the protective layers? Is rust visible on metal elements? Is the equipment neatly hung? Are the wooden platforms in good shape, or do they look like they've been beaten by the weather? Look for courses that are "picky" about safety issues such as age and weight restrictions and using helmets.
Ziplining Skills and Safety
The standard set-up for a high ropes course or a zipline is for the participant to wear a climbing harness, a climbing helmet, and (for ziplining) thick gloves, which are used on ziplines if it is necessary to brake. Here are some additional safety features and tips.
- Two lines are attached to the climbing harness via caribiners. The caribiners should be attached so that each one opens in the opposite direction from the other. This minimizes the chance that they could both accidentally open at the same time.
- Each line has a second caribiner on the other end, which attaches to the cables of the ziplines or to safety "lifelines." Lifelines are cables, which either are wrapped around trees at platforms between the obstacles, or which run alongside the adventure course obstacles.
- Zipliners also use a pulley. One end is attached to the climber's harness; the other is attached to the zipline. On a zipline, the safety lines are then both clipped in in back of the pulley. The zipliner holds the line attached to the pulley with the weaker hand. The stronger hand is reserved for braking, which is done by reaching behind the shoulder and pulling down on the cable (while wearing very thick leather gloves).
- People who have never ziplined before should be sure they understand exactly where to put what; this goes double for children. A good ziplining facility will have instructors and a practice area. Children should never be unsupervised.
- Tie back long hair, tuck in loose clothing, and don't carry cellphones (they can be distracting, and might even be dropped). Most zipliners will want photos, but be sure to have a secure place to tuck the camera away (not a neck or wrist cord).
It's never possible to outthink every facility or avoid every accident. But by following safety rules, using gear correctly, and keeping eyes open for problems, zipliners can fly through the trees with nothing more to worry about than if they are going too fast.
Check out more articles about adventure travel and ziplines.
Sources: Association of Challenge Course Technology; and the Association of Zipline Technology
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