Ziptrek out of Whistler is largely to credit for this in North America. They managed to package and position ziplining as a tourism product, and it has since exploded. Note long lines at the Vancouver Olympics for a 20 second zip ride, a zip line at the SuperBowl, and one added to just about every amusement park on the continent. What’s more, they even seem to be viable as standalone businesses, hence the municipal zoning requirements.
Much like bungee jumping in its early days, zip lines are the wild west. There are multiple competing ‘standards’ (all optional, of course) and approaches to braking and supervising rides. Some high profile lawsuits (such as Loychuk v. Cougar Mountain Adventures, 2011, link here) are the harbinger of things to come. With the explosion of operations comes a need for staff, and I have several students who work zip lines for the summer. They report a list of irregularities and the occasional major malfunction/injury (none of which make mainstream news). The fact is, zipping is prone to operator error.
Like bungee jumping, zipping falls under the infamous TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority) in Canada*. Once the TSSA get their heads wrapped around this, it will be a different universe, much like bungee went from many fly by night operators to just a few established big dollar locations. TSSA enforces legislation that covers “all machines, vehicles and structures in an amusement park that entertain people by moving them (or causing them to be moved). An amusement park is a facility, open to the public, where amusement devices are provided in connection with a carnival, fair, shopping centre, resort, park or other place of entertainment.” (www.tssa.org)
TSSA has zip licensing standards, which I can assure you very few operations know exist, let alone pay the $135 per hour to have their plans engineered and approved and then inspected upon completion. They are also likely not reporting injuries as per legislation requirement.
Once the TSSA directs its gaze to zipping, the activity will be quickly reigned in.
*The U.S. has the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission and state by state guidelines, some under amusement rides and some as standalone.
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Zip lines are the new Wild West in adventure activities. Do a Google search. You will pull up dozens of news stories of zip line operations gaining zoning approval from municipal councils. The concept of a zip line has been around forever, and even the kid’s camp ropes course/zip line model is well established. What is new, however, is its graduation from education or adventure activity to ‘amusement ride’.
Ziptrek out of Whistler is largely to credit for this in North America. They managed to package and position ziplining as a tourism product, and it has since exploded. Note long lines at the Vancouver Olympics for a 20 second zip ride, a zip line at the SuperBowl, and one added to just about every amusement park on the continent. What’s more, they even seem to be viable as standalone businesses, hence the municipal zoning requirements.
Much like bungee jumping in its early days, zip lines are the wild west. There are multiple competing ‘standards’ (all optional, of course) and approaches to braking and supervising rides. Some high profile lawsuits (such as Loychuk v. Cougar Mountain Adventures, 2011, link here) are the harbinger of things to come. With the explosion of operations comes a need for staff, and I have several students who work zip lines for the summer. They report a list of irregularities and the occasional major malfunction/injury (none of which make mainstream news). The fact is, zipping is prone to operator error.
Like bungee jumping, zipping falls under the infamous TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority) in Canada*. Once the TSSA get their heads wrapped around this, it will be a different universe, much like bungee went from many fly by night operators to just a few established big dollar locations. TSSA enforces legislation that covers “all machines, vehicles and structures in an amusement park that entertain people by moving them (or causing them to be moved). An amusement park is a facility, open to the public, where amusement devices are provided in connection with a carnival, fair, shopping centre, resort, park or other place of entertainment.” (www.tssa.org)
TSSA has zip licensing standards, which I can assure you very few operations know exist, let alone pay the $135 per hour to have their plans engineered and approved and then inspected upon completion. They are also likely not reporting injuries as per legislation requirement.
Once the TSSA directs its gaze to zipping, the activity will be quickly reigned in.
*The U.S. has the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission and state by state guidelines, some under amusement rides and some as standalone.