ZipRider® Safety
"The Utah Olympic Park has run over 300,000 customers through the Xtreme ZipRider® and the Ultra ZipRider®, in 4 full seasons of operation, without an injured rider. The ride is so safe because every detail of the ride has been designed and redesigned to be as simple and easy to operate as possible. Almost all elements of ride safety are in our control."
Safety is the most important factor in every ZipRider® zip line cable ride produced. No matter how profitable a ride is, there is no feature more important than safety. Structurally, the ZipRider® zip line cable ride has been designed to the highest of standards.
We have held the safety factors equal to or surpassing that of the ANSI-B77 Tramway codes as well as the ASTM codes. Every component of the ride has been thoroughly designed, reviewed and stamped by a professional engineering firm. We have also conducted extensive destructive testing on the ZipRider® trolley. In February of 2008, ZipRider® was granted approval as a “Permanent Amusement Ride” by the state of California. It also received German TUV approval in the fall of 2008.
In operation, the ZipRider® zip line cable ride is one of the safest ride experiences that you can offer your clientele. It offers a completely hands-off adventure down the terrain of your resort, unlike such rides as the Alpine Slide and Gravity Sled where the guest is in control of the sled and ride outcome.
A typical canopy-style zip line tour also requires the guest to control their speed by grabbing the cable with their gloved hands, thus placing the guest at risk of serious injury. The ZipRider®, on the other hand, places riders four feet below the trolley and cable with their speed regulated by our patented braking system and their hands clear of both trolley and ride cable. In addition, a typical zip line tour has a low point, or belly, in the ride cable somewhere between the beginning and the end of the ride, making it possible for a rider to become stranded mid-ride. Each ZipRider® is designed so that the ride ends at the low point of the ride cable and thus avoids this possibility.
The patented “Equipment Retrieval System”, a ZipRider® exclusive, also enhances safety by allowing a trolley to be mounted on the ride cable only once throughout normal operations. On the other hand, a typical canopy-style zip line tour requires that the ride equipment be repeatedly mounted onto and dismounted from the ride cable throughout the day, making likely that an operator will mount the ride equipment on the ride cable where there already is a guest, thus creating the potential for a collision between guests. This possible accident does not exist on a ZipRider® with the “Equipment Retrieval System”, since there will be only one trolley on the ride cable at a time.