Zip Well, the truth is, if you’re in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, fall in love with the friendliness of the people, enjoy the long and uphill walks from one shopping and restaurant area to another, and visit their parks, wildlife refuge, churches, restaurants, and waterfront along a beautiful lake made for canoeing, swimming or simply relaxing, or even if you’re in the Ozark Mountains especially to see a unique and historic B&B in the making, there really is just one more thing you have to do.
Zip line between mountain peaks of the Ozarks.
There are several zip line parks in the Ozarks near Eureka Springs, in northwestern Arkansas just a few miles from its border with Missouri. We opted for the Ozark Mountain Zip line, once we saw the ads saying it was the highest, fastest, and longest of all those offered. Really, if you’re going to zip line, then you really have to go for the ultimate!
And that it was.
Even the preparation for an hour and a half zip line is an education.
To be precise, zip lining is a pulley suspended on a stainless style cable on a slope from one point to another. It’s designed to enable a person to go from one point to the other propelled by gravity with the rider simply hanging on to the overhead pulley, soaring over open space and braking the ride when you get to the next platform.
The zip line we chose had ten different zips, each with a different name, at a different height, and of different distances. Most are simply to soar to the next site, get off get on another platform you zip to, then get on the next to view other parts of the mountains and so on until you have completed all the lines. On this site, there were three places where you either took a short walk through the woods or took a small flight of steps to get from one zip line platform to the next.
There were ten zip lines, and overall, they covered about a mile and a half of getting a bird’s eye view of the beauty of the Ozarks and the town of Eureka Springs far below. It took about an hour and a half to enjoy it all.
Our family group of four with me new to the sport … unless … does two zip lines in Mexico 12 years ago count? … had terrific guides Madison and Adam to suit us up. acclimate us to each portion of the journey and ensure our straps were secured safely to the next pulley line at every platform.
Suiting us is a precise technique, starting with the understanding the sport is fine for everyone from 3 to 103 years of age, so long as they’re reasonably healthy, not pregnant, and fit enough to hang on to that pulley and pull themselves to a platform if you fail to brake properly and are stranded midway between platforms in the middle of sky and ground. The only weight requirement … and weighing a zip liner is a necessity before you start, is under 275 pounds. Of course there are papers to sign to ensure you won’t hold anyone but yourself liable should anything happen, and you’re on your way to be strapped waist, body and shoulders to be sure you can be hooked to the pulleys once at each platform.
Getting Suited Up for my Flight HERE
The truth is, once aloft, it’s simply like flying! On the beautiful day we enjoyed, you could really see forever, and you suddenly realize why birds chirp so happily all the time. You soar above the trees, can look down from your 200 feet or so high points and see the town still many hundred feet below the mountains. You’re zipping alone, of course, but your team is waiting with applause and laughter at every platform you make.
Far and away, the most beautiful, most fun, and longest trip on this day was the half mile long zip line known as the Goliath where your speed reaches roughly 30 miles an hour while you’re soaring above the treetops. Whether it was the sheer excitement of the trip, the beauty of being above the trees and seeing the world with a bird’s eye view, or simply not realizing or thinking about when I should start to put on that brake, so I’d land safely on the platform, is unknown. But it only took a few seconds for me to realize, and acknowledge, I had braked too soon, the pulley stopped, and there I sat, securely strapped in, safe on the pulley line, but several feet away from the platform and Adam, waiting to unhook me to prepare me for the next line.
That’s when I learned a new strength I had. I could simply let go of the handles, hang on to the pulley line, and pull myself the rest of the distance to the platform. Easier said than done, admittedly. But within seconds, Adam was out on the line with me, helping me to keep moving along the line and get to the platform. A brief rest, a band aid to stop the bleeding from a tiny cut on my arm from whatever cause (the outstanding crew members carry all kinds of first aid equipment in their bags) and I was ready for the next five zip lines.
More lines, more scenery, more laughter, more confidence until we finished the last zip line, were loaded into a trolley to bring us back down to the starting point, we all got unstrapped, traded stories about which was the most beautiful, longest, shortest or most fun zip, and logged it all in as one more spectacular day in the Ozark Mountains.
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