Zipline Tours Set To Open In Spring 2012

Online, December 26, 2011 (Newswire.com) - LANCASTER -- Imagine the thrill of zipping along a wire at 35 mph 100 feet above a lake. Or flying through the trees in the woods beside the lake.

That's what visitors to Valley Zipline Tours at Catfish Valley will get to experience this spring when 17 ziplines open to the public.

Owners Mark Kinniard, son Chad Kinniard and Gary Smeck will spend the winter building their new attraction at 3465 Duffy Road and hope to open in March.

"It's going to be neat to see people flying across the lake," Mark Kinniard said.

Zipping consists of people boarding a platform high in a tree and strapping themselves to 1/2-inch galvanized steel cable via a harness and pulley. The zippers, wearing a helmet and gloves, then leap off the platform and ride the length of the cable to the next platform.

"I've only done it once, but it was amazing," employee Adam Dawson said. "And I'm afraid of heights. I see people of any skill level having a good time out here. There's going to be something for the adventure seekers and the family."

Zippers will not be on their own when navigating the 1 mile zip course. An employee will help them take off and another worker will be at the receiving platform to help the zipper land safely. That employee will unhook the zipper and connect them to the wire leading to the next platform on the course.

There also will be a mini zip course for children and adults who don't want to use the full-size course. The wire on the mini course will be only two or three feet off the ground.

Zippers will be taught safety tips and learn how to zip before heading up the hill to the course in an all-terrain vehicle. The first 10 zips are designed to get the newcomer used to zipping, before heading to the more-challenging zips. Top speed on the first 10 ziplines is about 18 mph.

The three most challenging ziplines will stretch about 1,000 feet across the Catfish Valley pay lake from one hill to the other. Each hill will have takeoff and landing platforms and afford zippers a unique view of the lake.

"We've got a good location out here," Mark Kinniard said. "When it's green, it's absolutely beautiful."

Zippers also will get to enjoy that beauty after dark, as night flights will be available.

"We want to start the night flights in June when it warms up," Mark Kinniard said. "They will have glowing type devices on their helmet and gloves."

Mark Kinniard said he plans to have at least 30 employees, all of whom will be trained to deal with any emergency that might occur.

"We're sticklers on safety," he said. "We want the right people working here and we want them to be very knowledgeable. There will be training sessions going on after January."

The training session will include teaching employees how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Kinniard also said an evacuation plan will be in place if someone becomes stricken with a medical emergency while on the zip trail.

He said it will cost $89 to try all 17 zips, which would take about three hours to complete. Zippers on the mini course will pay $15.