an extreme zip line adventure

Soaring Tree Top Adventures

• "platforms are attached ... in an unobtrusive manner that even has arborists’ attention"
• only access is by train
• 4.5 hours to complete
• 32 platforms
• more than 1 mile of cable

I see this is a new facility in the Animas River area. It looks interesting and I may give it a try one day.
I have been backpacking in that area and the train ride from Durango to Silverton along is a cool day adventure.
I noticed that they are not required to use helmets or gloves to take this ride. The conection to the cable is also "interesting" it does not look like a pulley but some other type of carabineer gear set up.
I wonder if "Ponderosa" had a chance to visit the site and check it out. Also I wonder f they allow camping or tree climbing in their property or in the Wimenuche National Forest nearby. That is a great place for backpacking and there are some large wild trees for adventures.
Thanks Bradley for bringing it to our attention.

Looks like it might be one of those carabiners with the built-in pulley. If it is, would that be safe enough to carry the weight of a human? Perhaps I'm wrong, I was under the impression those carabiners were good for pulling gear into the tree, etc rather than full weight-bearing. Any other ideas what else it may be?

only way i ride a zip line is with a stainless steel tandem pulley with a tandem pulley backup!

if those are indeed just carabiners with rollers, they might want to up their insurance rates, cuz their gonna get their butt handed to them when someone dies.

Boy, I'd sure like to see a close up of their pulley setup...

I've worked on a ropes course for years and I'm just not used to seeing that little hardware overhead.

No helmets? That's silly.

love
nick

i did'nt even see that (no helmets!) good eye Nick! damn....they better get their act together, first lass that gets her scalp ripped off because her hair was'nt tied up in her helmet....i smell lawsuit...

piss poor pulleys (or lack thereof), no helmet protocol, dang man, that place is a lawyers dream!.

Originally posted by NickfromWI
Boy, I'd sure like to see a close up of their pulley setup...

I'
nick

Nick, i blew up the picture as big as i could, (could'nt save it for some reason?) and even though it was blurry as heck, it looks like a maybe itts a small tandem pulley.....really small.......

can anybody else blow up that pic on the main page (the girl on the zip line) and see what their using?

EDIT: looks like a Petzl Trac pulley.......not something i would use for multiple use, multiple users on a commercial cable zipline though..... i would want full on stainless steel enclosed housing, with stainless steel sheaves......

DOUBLE EDIT: i stand corrected, the Petzl Trac does have stainless sideplates/housing. They must have update dtheir specs, because the early models were aluminum.

oops

OK, I'm feeling better about it. I went to their website where they list the equipment they use and petzl trac pulley was listed. Here's a view of it.

http://www.acmeclimbing.com/browseproducts/Petzl-Trac-Pulley.HTML

Would still like to see helmets and hair tied back if they don't already do it. If you're leaning forward and a good gust of wind from behind blows up, it's bad haircut time.

I saw the Trac pulley at Ragged Mountain, Inc in New Hampshire this summer. I thought it was a cool little tool. Thinking back on it, I just didn't remember it being THAT small.

One time, I took a petzl fixe down a zip line. I needed to clear branches 10' away from the zip line. I clipped on the fixe, put a friction hitch behind the fixe, then just slid down verrrrrry slowly by pulling on the hitch. When I let go, it the hitch held me in place.

It worked, but when I got down, the sheave of the pulley was all mangled up. I knew steel + aluminum is a no-no, but I thought "eh, just take it slow, no probs"

Ha! I'll see if I can dig up the pulley.

Check out the set up!

love
nick

(ps- I had a steel snap back up , just in case)

AAAHHAHAHA I love that drawing!!!! thats great!!:D:D

And yes, for those that were wondering...my head IS slightly smaller than the petzl fixe pulley.