Commercial Zip Line – Standard Who’s Time Has Come

Commercial Zip Line Rides – How Can We Know a Commercial Zip Line is Safe?

Do commercial zip line rides have a standard?

The Commercial zip line industry has received quite some awareness during the last couple of years as a number of zip line accidents have drawn the attention of the press. How do we decide if a zip line ride is safe? Before being given a seal of approval, precisely what certain conditions do zip line rides have to meet?

The Requirement for A Zip Line Standard

Who inspects these things anyway and what criteria will they apply to gauge safety and see if a zip line ride “passes”?

Believe it or not, this very matter is being discussed by great minds in the commercial zip line trade who are putting their thoughts together as we draft this.

Mike Teske, director of technical services for Skyline Eco-Adventures, is leading a task force who's intention is to establish … "criteria for the design, manufacture, installation, testing performance, operation, maintenance, inspection and auditing of zip lines, ropes courses and challenge courses that are specifically intended for concession, commercial recreation or amusement purposes" (ASTM WK34049)

It's Official – ASTM Is Building A Standard For The Commercial Zip Line

According to news release dated 12 Jan 2012, ASTM international and the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) will be collaborating to develop a new standard, ASTM WK34049, Practice for Special Requirements for Aerial Adventure Courses.

The necessity for this new standard is being prompted because of the recent growing trend for commercial zip line rides as well as other aerial adventure courses.

The fact that safety of zip line rides is being concentrated on by the standards industry is a good thing. For our readers, it's better yet to understand that Soaring Eagle Zip Lines currently meets and exceeds much of the safety criteria being talked about and spelled out in these sessions.

Safety and Soaring Eagle Zip Lines

Typical zip line rides can be great liability risks because of safety issues. The biggest contributing factors of zip line safety risks can be found in the human element. With each additional point of human intervention in the process, safety risk increases. Think about the variety of potential human interactions in the typical zip line ride process that has a crew located at both top and bottom of the ride, harnessing and fitting guests, instructing riders, loading and unloading riders, and inspecting and working with equipment. Ride safety is degraded when the chance of operator oversight is increased because even the best operator is prone to stress from repetitive and labor intense harnassing and fitting of each guest. Sometimes with conventional zip line rides, guests are asked to bring the ride equipment and harness which allows the unit they carry to go out of the charge of the ride operators and exposes the resort or facility to all of the associating liabilities along with the potential for undiscovered damage to occur while in transport.

The advantage with Soaring Eagle Zip Lines is that the ride involves only one easily trained operator, hence the majority of probable human fault has been prevented. Restraints are locked and electronically tracked by two proximity sensors that must be engaged before the ride is able to operate. A safe and comfortable landing on every cycle is ensured with Soaring Eagle’s Patent Pending spring braking system. In the industry, you will not see a safer zip line ride.

Commercial zip line rides remain an expanding and very popular attraction. Soaring Eagle Zip Line rides securely rides visitors without need for a harness and requires only a single employee to operate. See how you will profit from a Soaring Eagle Zip Line Ride – Call today – (435)-571-0355. Or go to www.SoaringEagleZipLines.com.