Canopy Tours are gaining more attention throughout the state. One of the first was built in Stokes County by the Nickell's family. Carolina Ziplines Canopy Tours is located on Nickell Farm Rd. in Westfield and is a great way to spend a part of your summer.
By Lisa O'Donnell | Journal Reporter
Published: April 8, 2010
ASHEBORO
When I am riding that knife's edge between a hurl and a howl, screaming provides me with great relief.
I let out a few of those "holy-&*$#" screams last week while whizzing above and through the trees on ziplines near the N.C. Zoo.
Yeah, I thought I was going to revisit my poached egg and toast when I purposely flipped myself upside down and let one hand off the harness, but I was facing tremendous peer pressure from some other 40-something women who made riding upside down seem as blasé as conditioning their hair.
Ziplines, which are also called canopy tours, are the latest rage in outdoor adventures. In most commercial outfits, riders slip into a harness that is attached to a pulley system that glides along an inclined cable. Gravity provides the fuel that moves riders from one stop to the next. Riders, who are given padded leather gloves, brake by pulling down on the cable.
Ziplines have long been popular in such Central American countries as Costa Rica that promote eco-tourism. Lately, they have started sprouting all over the United States, including in North Carolina.
Our area has a handful of ziplines, including Carolina Ziplines in Westfield, Scream Time Ziplines in Boone and Richland Creek Zip Line in Asheboro.
New ziplines are popping up in Bryson City, the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, and Hawksnest in Seven Devils. Prices range from about $40 to $80. Yes, it's a lot of money, especially if you have children. On the positive side, the tours last about 2½ hours and, most important, there's a lot of yee-haw for your buck.
I got a taste of ziplining at Richland Creek Zip Line, off N.C. 42 in Asheboro. It has about 10 lines totaling one mile. My group included 6-year-old Colin Sullender and his 77-year old grandmother, Frances Herring.
"The buzzards are circling," Herring said as she climbed the steps to a platform for her first ride, "and I'm not even dead yet."
The ziplines run to platforms that are built in the trees. If standing on a platform 30 feet in the air makes your stomach turn a double McTwist, fear not. The staff clips the carabiner on your harness onto a safety clip as soon as you step on the platform. In other words: You will not fall.
The ziplines here cut through a beautiful woods near the base of Purgatory Mountain and over Richland Creek, a fast-running creek strewn with boulders. Part of what makes a zipline such an exhilarating experience is seeing nature from a squirrel's eye view.
Of course, that makes it a little scary, too, especially those first few rides when you are getting your air legs.
By the third run or so, the nerves were settled, although I swore I smelled smoke coming off my padded glove while trying to slow myself down. By the final run, most of the folks in my group were riding upside down, some with no hands.
Owner Buddy Hammer said he has never measured how fast you can go on one of his lines, but it is probably no more than 30 mph. Some zipline companies promote their fast lines. Scream Time in Boone, for instance, says you can get up to 50 mph on its lines.
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Want to go?
• Carolina Zip Lines Canopy Tour: 1085 Nickell Farm Road, Westfield, 972-7656, www.carolinaziplines.com.
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