zip line

Ropeways or aerial cables have been used as a method of transport in some mountainous countries for more than 2,000 years, possibly starting in China, India and Japan as early as 250 BC,{{cite web|url=http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/01/aerial-ropeways-automatic-cargo-transport.html|title=Aerial ropeways: automatic cargo transport for a bargain|publisher=LOW-TECH MAGAZINE, Doubts on progress and technology|access-date=28 August 2014}} remaining in use in some remote areas in China such as Nujiang (Salween) valley in Yunnan as late as 2015 before being replaced by bridges.{{cite web|url=http://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/3444/bye_bye_nujiang_ziplines|title=Bye-bye Nujiang ziplines|publisher=GoKunming|access-date=2 December 2015}} Not all of these structures were assisted by gravity, so not all fitted the definition of the zip-line.

Various technological advances in Europe in the Middle Ages improved the power-line's ropeways, some of which were still assisted by gravity.

The first recorded use of the zip-line as a form of entertainment was possibly in 1739, when Robert Cadman, a steeplejack and rope slider, died when descending from Shrewsbury's St Mary's Church when his rope snapped. In literature, one appears in H. G. Wells's 1897 novel The Invisible Man as part of a Whit Monday fair: "On the village green an inclined string, down which, clinging the while to a pulley-swung handle, one could be hurled violently against a sack at the other end, came in for considerable favour among the adolescent..."{{cite book|title="The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance"|author=H.G. Wells|date=1897|publisher=C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.|location=London|page=77|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HEedUnVEt0C}}

Some sources attribute the development of zip-lines used today as a vacation activity to the Tyrolean traverses developed for mountaineering purposes.

In the Australian outback, zip-lines were sometimes used for delivering necessities to people working in or on the other side of a valley, and they may have been used in conflicts by Australian troops to deliver food, mail and even ammunition to forward positions.{{cite web|url=http://ziplineconsultant.com/all-about-zip-lines/|title=All about Zip Lines|website=Zipline Consultant|date=2018|access-date=21 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818041837/http://ziplineconsultant.com/all-about-zip-lines/|archive-date=18 August 2018}}Although these claims are repeated on several sites, an original reliable source of the information has not been found.

File:Flying foxes across river chasm in Ladakh.jpg, India]]

Yungas, Bolivia, features a system of zip-lines used for transporting harvested crops, mainly coca, across a valley 200 m below.{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/2011/05/20115811409577464.html|title=The flying men of Yungas Valley|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=1 May 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://documentary.net/video/cocaleros-in-bolivia-do-not-walk-they-fly/|title=Cocaleros in Bolivia do not walk – they fly|access-date=25 January 2019|website=documentary.net|author=Al Jazeera}} They can also be seen in the Ladakh region of India.

In recent years, there has been renewed interest in the use of aerial ropeways for transporting cargo, partly due to their low energy requirements and environmental impact. Gravity-fed types, i.e. zip-lines, have been built in Nepal,{{cite journal|url=https://www.notechmagazine.com/2009/10/aerial-ropeways-in-nepal.html|title=Aerial Ropeways in Nepal|journal=No Tech Magazine|access-date=22 January 2019|date=12 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204034218/http://www.notechmagazine.com/2009/10/aerial-ropeways-in-nepal.html|archive-date=4 December 2017}} Latin America and India.

Ziplines have also been used as a means of transporting items in Australian regions in the past. These may include ammunition, weapons, tools, food, and mail.{{cite web |title=Zipping Through History: The Origins of the Zipline - Oahu Zipline |url=https://oahuzipline.com/zipping-through-history-the-origins-of-the-zipline/ |website=oahuzipline |access-date=1 October 2021}}

File:Flying Fox cablecar Canberra, Australia.jpg, Australia]]

Zip-lines may be designed for children's play and found on some adventure playgrounds. Inclines are fairly shallow and so the speeds kept relatively low, removing the need for a means of stopping. The term "flying fox" is commonly used in reference to such a small-scale zip-line in Australia, New Zealand, and Scotland.{{cite web| url= http://www.ziplinerider.com/Australia_Ziplines.html |title=Zip-Lines, Flying Fox in Australia|publisher=Ziplinerider.com|access-date=9 August 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ziplinerider.com/New_Zealand_Ziplines.html |title=Zip-Lines, Flying Fox in New Zealand|publisher=Ziplinerider.com|access-date=9 August 2012|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606014427/http://www.ziplinerider.com/New_Zealand_Ziplines.html |archive-date=6 June 2012|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web| url=https://www.soec.org.uk/our-activities/high-activities/flying-fox/ |title=Flying Fox, Zip lines in Scottish Outdoor Education Centres|publisher=soec.org.uk|access-date=5 October 2021}}

With playground equipment, the pulleys are fixed to the cable, the user typically hanging onto a handgrip underneath, but occasionally including a seat or a safety strap. Return of the grip or seat is usually done by simply pushing or pulling it via a short wire back to the top of the hill on foot.

File:Hocking Peaks Adventure Park, Logan, Ohio.jpg]]

Longer and higher rides are often used as a means of accessing remote areas, such as a rainforest canopy. In the 1970s, wildlife biologists set up zip-lines as a way to study and explore the dense rainforests of Costa Rica without disturbing the environment. The business idea for zip-line canopy tours developed from these. Darren Hreniuk, a Canadian citizen who moved to Costa Rica in 1992, around the same time that a scene in the film Medicine Man incorporated the treetop rides, with the goal of using canopy tours to help raise awareness for reforestation, education and socio-economic development in the surrounding areas. In October 1998, the Costa Rican Patent Office granted patent No. 2532 for an "Elevated Forest Transport System Propelled by Gravity, Using Harness and Pulley Through a Simple Horizontal Line" to Hreniuk. The patent was later annulled, bringing uncertainty to zip-line businesses, before being reinstated after twenty years.{{cite web|url=https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2d301fe1-e8ec-4ddd-99f3-7c6ff8145210|date=10 November 2018|first=CastroPal|last=Abogados|title=Costa Rica – patent leaves canopy tours dangling|access-date=22 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122103124/https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2d301fe1-e8ec-4ddd-99f3-7c6ff8145210|archive-date=22 January 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://news.co.cr/canopy-patent-reinstated-canadian-man-costa-rica-20-year-legal-battle/61608/|publisher=Costa Rica Star|title=Canopy Patent Reinstated to Canadian Man in Costa Rica After 20 Year Legal Battle|first=Wendy|last=Anders|date=1 June 2017|access-date=22 January 2019}}

A canopy tour (sometimes called a zip-line tour) provides a route through a wooded, and often mountainous, landscape, making primary use of zip-lines and aerial bridges between platforms built in trees. Tourists are harnessed to a cable for safety, and many are restricted to adults. Heights vary from near to the ground to near the treetops.{{cite web|url=https://www.tripsavvy.com/take-a-zipline-or-canopy-tour-34122| title=Take a Zipline or Canopy Tour|first=Lois|last=Friedland|publisher=Tripsavvy|date=22 November 2017|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701111634/https://www.tripsavvy.com/take-a-zipline-or-canopy-tour-34122|archive-date=1 July 2018}} Canopy tours are largely marketed under the banner of ecotourism, although the environmental impact of any type of zip-line is a disputed topic.{{cite web|url=https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/zip-line2.htm|title=How zip lines work: History of zip lines|first=Kate|last=Kershner|website=howstuffworks|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629022429/https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/zip-line2.htm|archive-date=29 June 2018}}

The terminology varies (canopy tour, zip-lining, flying fox), and the distinction between using zip-lines for ecotourism and zip-lining as an adventure sport is often not clear.{{cite web|url=https://www.ziplinerider.com/Zipline_Locations.html|title=Zipline locations|website=Zipline Rider|access-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123102138/https://www.ziplinerider.com/Zipline_Locations.html|archive-date=23 January 2019}}; also a number of commercial sites such as [https://www.adrenaline.com.au/tree-top-adventures/ Adrenaline: Flying fox & tree adventures], [https://adventureamericaziplinecanopytours.com/canopy-tours/ Adventure America: Zipline canopy tours]

Zip-line tours are now popular vacation activities, found both at upscale resorts and at outdoor adventure camps, where they may be an element on a larger challenge such as a hike or ropes course.{{cite journal|url=http://www.mauimagazine.net/Maui-Magazine/September-October-2008/Dont-Look-Down/ |title=Don't Look Down!| last=Thayer| first=Matthew|date=September–October 2008| journal=Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine|access-date=9 March 2011|location=Maui, Hawaii|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126151202/http://www.mauimagazine.net/Maui-Magazine/September-October-2008/Dont-Look-Down/|archive-date=26 November 2010|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=https://www.tripsavvy.com/most-extreme-zip-lines-in-america-34302|first=Lois|last=Friedland|title=The most extreme ziplines in America|date=25 May 2018|access-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124002436/https://www.tripsavvy.com/most-extreme-zip-lines-in-america-34302|archive-date=24 January 2019}}

File:Departure zip SuperFly in Whistler, BC, Canada.jpg, Canada]]

A type of pulley with a grooved wheel known as a sheave is used in zip-lines, and the pulley turns as it travels along, thus reducing friction and enabling greater speed than would otherwise be possible.{{cite web|url=https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/zip-line1.htm|title=How zip lines work: Physics of zip lines|first=Kate|last=Kershner|website=howstuffworks|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629022228/https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/zip-line1.htm|archive-date=29 June 2018}}

The zip-line trolley ("zipliner") is the frame or assembly together with the pulley inside that run along the cable.Some examples can be seen [https://zipline.systems/index.php/zip-line-pulleys-trolleys.html here]. Zip-lines also have some kind of device to allow the cargo or rider to attach to the pulley system. This could include a harness, seat, a cabin or often just a handhold in smaller playground applications, that attaches to the pulley by a pivoting link or carabiner which secures the load, allowing the person or cargo to travel down the line.

File:Zip line spring braking system.jpg

To be propelled by gravity, the cable needs to be on a fairly steep slope. Even then, the rider or cargo will often not travel completely to the end (although this will depend on the load), and some means of safely stopping the car at the bottom end is usually needed with the larger zip-lines. Users of zip-lines must have some means of stopping themselves. Typical mechanisms include:{{cite web|last1=Roper|first1=Aaron|title=Zip Line Braking Methods|url=https://www.ziplinegear.com/pages/howto-braking|website=ZipLineGear Knowledge Base|access-date=2 February 2015}}

• Friction created from the pulley rubbing against the cable
• Thick, purpose-built leather gloves
• A mat or netting at the lower end of the incline
• A passive arrester system composed of springs, pulleys, counterweights, bungee cord, tire or other devices, which slows and then stops the trolley's motion
• A "capture block", which is a block on the cable tethered to a rope controlled by a person who can manually apply friction on the rope to slow the user down
• Gravity stop, exploiting the sag in the cable, where the belly of the cable is always lower than the termination point. The amount of net incline in a zip-line system affects the speed at which the user arrives at the termination point.
• Hand brake at the end of the zip-line

There are certain precautions that can be taken. Riders are physically attached to the cable by a harness which attaches to a removable trolley. A helmet is required on almost all courses of any size. All zip-line cables have some degree of sag, so the proper tensioning of a cable is important and allows tuning the ride of a zip-line.

File:Ziplining through rainforest at Canopy San Lorenzo in San Ramon, Costa Rica.jpg]]

File:Rescuing a stuck zipliner at Canopy San Lorenzo in San Ramon, Costa Rica.jpg

The world's longest zip-line, which opened on 28 September 2024, is the K3 of the SA Forest Adventures in Caledon, South Africa. It is a single cable of 3.2 km reaching speeds up to 120km/h.{{Cite news |last=Mashamba |first=Ronewa Jessica |date=2024-09-28 |title='World's longest zip line' launched just outside Cape Town |url=https://www.iol.co.za/travel/south-africa/western-cape/worlds-longest-zip-line-launched-just-outside-cape-town-aeb3fdad-0018-4678-bb88-508d018ee16c#google_vignette |access-date=2024-09-28 |work=IOL}}

From 31 January 2018 it was the "Jebel Jais Flight" from one of the peaks of the Jebel Jais mountain in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, with a single unbroken span of {{convert|2,831.88|m}}.{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-emirates-attraction-zipline/uae-claims-worlds-longest-zipline-idUSKBN1FL50Z|title=UAE claims world's longest zipline |first=Rosanna|last=Lockwood|website=reuters.com|access-date=1 May 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/67883-longest-zip-wire|website=Guinness World Records|title=Longest zip-wire|date=31 January 2018|access-date=25 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125062605/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/67883-longest-zip-wire|archive-date=25 January 2019}} The ride was temporarily closed pending the outcome into an investigation into the crash of an Agusta 139 rescue helicopter on 29 December 2018, killing all on board. It is believed to have clipped one of the cables.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46715376|title=UAE helicopter crash kills four crew on rescue mission near zipline|date=30 December 2018|work=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102044402/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46715376|archive-date=2 January 2019|access-date=25 January 2019}} The ride has since re-opened.{{Cite web |last=visit-jj-admin |title=Jais Flight – World's Longest Zipline |url=https://visitjebeljais.com/adrenaline/jais-flight/ |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=Visit Jebel Jais}}

The "Parque de Aventura Barrancas del Cobre" at {{cvt|2545|m}} in Copper Canyon, Mexico, is the second-longest span,{{cite web |url=http://ziprider.com/rides/coppercanyon/ |title=Copper Canyon, Mexico Ziprider |publisher=Ziprider.com |access-date=29 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229130707/http://ziprider.com/rides/coppercanyon/ |archive-date=29 December 2015 |df=dmy-all }}, http://parktropa.com/our-works-en/zipline/ with "El Monstruo" at Orocovis in Puerto Rico coming in third, at {{cvt|2530|m}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.themanual.com/travel/longest-zip-line-in-the-world/|access-date=25 January 2019|title=Take flight on the 3 longest zip-lines in the world|website=The Manual|date=10 May 2018|first=Clay|last=Abney|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125064600/https://www.themanual.com/travel/longest-zip-line-in-the-world/|archive-date=25 January 2019}}

The Skywire at Bluewater in Kent is the longest in England at {{convert|725|m}}.{{Cite web|last1=Woolston|first1=Hope|last2=Delahaye|first2=Julie|date=2021-03-19|title=England's 'longest and fastest' zip wire set to open in May|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/uk-ireland/englands-longest-fastest-zip-wire-23761393|access-date=2021-06-18|website=mirror|language=en}} The longest zip-line in Europe, at {{convert|2300|m}}, is the Sternsauser in Hoch-Ybrig, Switzerland.{{cite web |access-date=2024-07-15 |language=de |title=Seilrutsche «Sternensauser» |url=https://www.zuerich.com/de/besuchen/sport/seilrutsche-sternensauser}}

The Zip World Bethesda line in Penrhyn Quarry, Bethesda, Wales holds the world record for attaining the fastest zip-line travel speed.{{cite web |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/10752334/The-100mph-slide-riding-Europes-longest-zipline.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140413092734/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/10752334/The-100mph-slide-riding-Europes-longest-zipline.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 13 April 2014 |title=The 100 MPH slide; Riding Europe's Longest Zipline|access-date=3 July 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.zipworld.co.uk/adventure/detail/velocity|title=Zip World Velocity|access-date=3 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815194521/http://www.zipworld.co.uk/adventure/detail/velocity|archive-date=15 August 2016|df=dmy-all}}

Zip-lines with the steepest inclines include:

• Saint Martin's Rockland Estate Rainforest Adventures zip-line (opened 24 November 2017) drops {{convert|320|m}} across the {{convert|853|m}} of cable.{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/worlds-steepest-zip-line-breathtaking-views-over-st-martin-180967477/|title=The world's steepest zip line offers breathtaking views over St. Martin|last=Rizzo|first=Cailey|website=Smithsonian.com|date=11 December 2017|access-date=25 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129010149/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/worlds-steepest-zip-line-breathtaking-views-over-st-martin-180967477/|archive-date=29 January 2018}}
• The Letalnica bratov Gorišek zip-line, on the ski jumping hill in Planica, Slovenia (opened 19 September 2015) is {{convert|566|m|ft}} long with a {{convert|202|m|ft}} vertical drop. It has an average 38.33% and a maximum 58.6% incline.{{cite web |url=http://www.nc-planica.si/2015/09/18/postani-planiski-junak/ |title=Become hero of Planica|access-date=18 September 2015}}
• ZipFlyer in Nepal (run by HighGround Adventures{{snd}}2012), with a maximum incline of 56%, claims to be the world's steepest zip-line. It has a vertical drop of {{convert|610|m|ft}}.{{cite web |url=http://highgroundnepal.com/ |title=HGnepal Website |access-date=4 July 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709050527/http://www.highgroundnepal.com/|archive-date=9 July 2012|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ziplinerider.com/Longest_Ziplines.html|title=Longest Zip Lines |publisher=ziplinerider.com |access-date=17 April 2012 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120430102750/http://www.ziplinerider.com/Longest_Ziplines.html|archive-date=30 April 2012|df=dmy-all}}

• On his 106th birthday, British great-grandfather Jack Reynolds became the oldest person to ride a zip-line, on 6{{nbs}}April 2018, at Go Ape in Grizedale Forest, Cumbria.{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2018/9/fearless-centenarian-sets-third-record-by-riding-zip-wire-on-his-106th-birthday-520840|title=106-year-old sets birthday zip wire record – after getting tattoo and riding rollercoaster|first=Rachel|last=Swatman|website=Guinness World Records|date=18 September 2018|access-date=28 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128024217/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2018/9/fearless-centenarian-sets-third-record-by-riding-zip-wire-on-his-106th-birthday-520840|archive-date=28 January 2019}}

The La Tyrolienne in Val Thorens, France is the highest altitude zipline, at 10,600 feet.{{cite web |title=The World's Highest Zipline Will Take You to the Slopes at the World's Best Ski Resort |url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/hotels-resorts/mountain-ski-resorts/worlds-highest-zipline#:~:text=%E2%80%9CLa%20Tyrolienne%E2%80%9D%20is%20located%20at,above%20ground%20is%20820%20feet. |access-date=1 October 2021}}

• Adventure park
• Aerial tramway
• Breeches buoy

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Zip lines}}

{{Wikivoyage|Ziplining}}

{{Wiktionary|flying fox}}

{{Adventure travel}}

{{Extreme sports}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}