(Originally published in the July 15 to 21, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---
a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---
by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)
A ZIP-line (also known as a “flying fox”, “foefie slide”, “zip wire”, “aerial runway”, “aerial ropeslide”, “death slide” or “Tyrolean crossing”) consists of a pulley suspended on a cable mounted on an incline. It is designed to enable a user, propelled by gravity, to travel from the top to the bottom of the inclined cable by holding onto, or attaching to, the freely-moving pulley.
Zip-line tours are becoming popular vacation activities, found at outdoor adventure camps or upscale resorts.
They are also used by forest rangers and researchers as a means of accessing remote areas, such as a rainforest canopy. In the Australian Outback, “flying foxes” are occasionally used for delivering food, cigarettes or tools to people working on the other side of an obstacle such as a gully or river. Australian troops have used them to deliver food, mail and even ammunition to forward positions in several conflicts.
The zip-line is not a recent invention. It has been used as a transportation method in some mountainous countries. In some remote areas in China since ancient times, zip-lines serve the purposes of bridges across rivers. Referred to as “an inclined strong”, one appears in The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells, published in 1897, as part of a Whit-Monday fair.
Without proper knowledge and training on operations and maintenance on the part of the operators, zip-lines can be very unsafe and life-threatening. The safe operation of a zip-line requires knowledge and commitment from every person involved in its functioning, including the owner, the site manager, and the guides.
It is therefore imperative that zip-lines are within universally-accepted safety standards and sound engineering theories, designs and practices such as tension test, anchors load test, and cable brake test. All these tests must be done by a competent engineer and not just the businessman.
The brake is undoubtedly the most important part of a safe zip-line design. Most accidents that occur on a zip-line are due to a poorly designed and inadequate braking system.
An ACTIVE BRAKE is when the user slows down by personally applying brake to the zip-line. This includes a thick leather glove, or a triangular piece of wood, that zip-line riders will drag on the cable. By increasing the friction between the rider and the cable, the speed of the rider decreases until he comes to a complete stop. It requires the active intervention of the users, which increases the potential for danger due to mistakes or non-compliance of the rider. This is the cheapest type of braking system and is often resorted to by the profit-oriented operators. I discourage you from patronizing zip-line businesses of this kind. You are only courting danger, if not death.
The PASSIVE ACTION MAGNETIC BRAKE allows bringing a rider gently to a stop from speeds of up to 150 km/hour regardless of the rider’s weight. This revolutionary fully-redundant brake system will apply more brake force as the landing speed increases. Such brakes can be adapted to existing zip-lines, but due to the space needed for controlled braking, it will perform at its peak efficacy on a specially designed zip-line. This brake system is an extremely expensive investment and is avoided by the profit-oriented operators, sacrificing public safety.
The PASSIVE TRIANGULATION BRAKE is the most widely-used on “commercialized” zip-lines. It is composed of a series of pulleys, ropes and bungee cords. It is quite effective and seldom fails but it has limitations in terms of landing speed and does not easily accommodate the person's weight.
The PASSIVE SPRING BRAKE was developed as an alternative to the rubber cap often used at the end of a triangulation bungee cord brake. This brake could work very well by itself and in conjunction with the anti-return system and a perfect alternative for most of the high-speed landings.
Also, is there a local ordinance regulating it? In the United States, zip-line regulations state that persons using a zip line should be in “good physical condition”. Pregnant women and individuals with injuries or recurring medical conditions such as seizures are not permitted to ride zip lines.
Another is the “responsibility waiver”. Before using the ride, most operators require all participants to sign a “waiver/release form”. If the rider is a minor, only parents and legal guardians over 18 years of age can sign the waiver. Friends and other relatives are not permitted to sign a waiver/release form for a minor.
“Responsibility waivers” are therefore designed more to shield the operator and its staff from legal culpability in the event of injury and not much to protect the paying “customer”. A “responsibility waivers” is a questionable moral value. I call it a “legal fire escape”. It is like telling a visitor before entering your house: I shall not be held responsible for any loss of your money and other valuables while you are inside my house.
Learn to spot responsible, courteous and competent staff thoroughly knowledgeable on the correct use of the equipment, e.g. harness and helmet adjustments, tying the safety lines, management of the pulley and carabiner, and attachment points, cable inspection and back-up system.
Are there contingency plans and a common sense way of avoiding them? Is there a criterion for cancellation of an activity and capability to recognize and avoid risky situations?
Is the staff knowledgeable, trained and certified in rescue operations? Are they familiar with the rescue equipment and procedures (horizontal and vertical)? Are they knowledgeable, trained and certified in zip-line maintenance? How often is it inspected? How competent is the inspector? Remember that inspectors are corruptible.
Is the staff trained to provide customers with sincere attention and kindness, always handled with responsibility and commitment?
Lastly, maybe it won’t hurt asking around on the credibility of the operators of zip-lines that suddenly sprout in our backyards from out of the blue. Have they been involved in unscrupulous or shadowy transactions? Do they have pending warrants or cases in court? Is the lot they are situated a subject of litigation? Let us not patronize and feed these “business ventures” disguised as “adventure attractions”.
They’re nothing but TOURIST TRAPS!*
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