• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Who here has zip lined at Attitash, NH?

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
I've done it a little bit at Magic here in Vermont, and it was fun. But I may have the opportunity to go next week at Attitash in NH, which they say is the longest zipline in the lower 48, and I want to know what I'm in for.

A plus over the one at Magic: the one at Attitash has speed control.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The zipline at Bretton Woods is quite good. They call it a "canopy tour." The program takes you through lots of different lines, from short and low to high and long. They teach you how to control the zip as you navigate each of the increasingly challenging zip lines. The last one is quite long and high. The whole thing takes a good half day. $$, but worth the cost. That jagged orange line over on the far left of this trail map shows each leg of the "canopy tour."
1355792772jpg_render.jpg

I dunno anything about what Attitash offers.
 
Last edited:

marzNC

Angel Diva
I've done it a little bit at Magic here in Vermont, and it was fun. But I may have the opportunity to go next week at Attitash in NH, which they say is the longest zipline in the lower 48, and I want to know what I'm in for.

A plus over the one at Magic: the one at Attitash has speed control.
From what I can see from videos people have taken at Attitash and posted to YouTube, most people only use the "speed control" to slow down at the end. The time spent zipping is just over 2 minutes. The view is pretty cool. Since it's wide open and over the tops of all the trees, it's easy to look off in the distance instead of down.

The longest zip lines I've done were at The Gorge just south of Asheville, NC. More of a back and forth set of long zip lines. What's unusual is that a lot of the lines are in old growth forest.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
The zipline at Bretton Woods is quite good. They call it a "canopy tour." The program takes you through lots of different lines, from short and low to high and long. . . .

I dunno anything about what Attitash offers.
Not really much comparison between a "canopy tour" and a "mega zip" that is one long and fast line. Massanutten has a mega-zip that is next to the tubing hill. Even the longest line of most canopy tours is not nearly as high off the ground or nearly as long as what Attitash offers.

The longest and fastest zip line in Europe is in Wales. It's over a former quarry so not exactly scenic. That's set up "superman" style instead of a sitting harness.

 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
....Even the longest line of most canopy tours is not nearly as high off the ground or nearly as long as what Attitash offers.....

True. Comparing height off the ground, length of zips, and potential speed at each location, Attitash yields the highest numbers, and potentially the greatest thrill because of those numbers.

Bretton Woods:
The longest and highest leg of the zip tour at Bretton Woods is
830 feet in length and
165 feet off the forest floor. .
...zip at speeds up to 30mph


Attitash:
the longest single span zipline in the contiguous United States.....A top speed of
65+ mph is possible
while reaching heights of
250' off the ground as you make your way down the
4,969' length distance....


=======================================
But comparing the whole experience, there's more variety and time involved with the Bretton Woods experience. They teach you to control what you're doing in your harness as you zip along and land on a platform across increasingly huge divides. The tour is not focused on yielding speed thrills alone, although the final zip is two paired lines designed to function as a race. Coming in for a landing is quite the thrill; it seems like you're going to crash and burn, but somehow you stop safely. You are not in control that last zip; it's contrived to give you thrills ... and it works.

Choosing Attitash or Bretton Woods depends on what kind of adventure is desired.

Bretton Woods:
----will take approximately 2 to 3 hours
9 ziplines
, ranging from 120 - 830 feet in length and up to 165 feet off the forest floor
2 sky bridges
3 rappels
, from 9 to 65 feet
16 tree platforms, ranging from 10-70 feet high
2 guides per group, up to 8 participants

Attitash:
----1 to 2 hour adventure
includes a training zip
plus two zip lines spanning across two mountain peaks
 
Last edited:

marzNC

Angel Diva
But comparing the whole experience, there's more variety and time involved with the Bretton Woods experience. It comes down to what you want from your day's adventure.
Yep, different experiences. Brings to mind the difference between rock climbing indoors versus outdoors. It's quite possible to do routes with similar difficulty, say 5.6, so similar skills needed but feels very different. Or perhaps could compare to the difference between spending 3-4 hours on a couple indoor slopes vs 2-3 runs on a much longer slope on a mountain.

One of the zipline tours I've done doesn't use any tree platforms. All based on wood towers with stairs constructed in and around a corn field. Full-body harness. Managed to get my brothers-in-law, husband, and wife of BIL to do it. They are not the type who would consider a more adventurous style of zipline.

The zipline at Big Sky runs year round. Goes over the beginner slope that's near the main base. I think I'll stick with doing ziplines when it's somewhat warmer than the average temperature during ski season in Montana.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I really liked the one at BWoods when I did it with a friend who was deathly afraid of heights. The first zip is about 3 feet off the ground, and start to finish about 40 feet long. They are teaching the group members how to use the harness, and how to land on the platform at the end. The next one proceeds from that landing platform, and is a little longer and a little higher. Each zip is progressively longer and higher off the ground.

The design eases the group into ever so slightly more height and length and speed, slowly, so as to not freak anyone out. It was perfect for my friend. The thing we were learning was how to manage our speed so we could land on the next platform without missing it entirely (going too slow gets you sliding backwards when you miss the platform, so you end up hanging motionless stuck out in the middle of the line) or slamming into the platform out of control. Rotating on our line while moving forward was always a possibility on these zips, so not rotating was something we learned to do too. As they take you through all the zips, the progression includes three rappels and two rope bridges, so you're not always just doing the same thing over and over. Since you're in a group, you get to wait on the rest and watch their reactions to each activity, and cheer on the people who are feeling cautious. It felt more like an educational experience than a scary carnival ride.

The last true zip was the long one with the valley way below. The big challenge was to get to the end without rolling backwards (which we really didn't want to do and get stuck waaay out there), and get onto the platform without coming in too fast and crashing. Another challenge was to turn our heads left and right to enjoy the view without prompting our whole body to rotate, while zipping along at our highest speed of the day. We congratulated ourselves at the end for a job well done and skills learned.

The last feature was a "zip" without any skill needed - just let go and see how fast gravity takes you down, paired with another person on a second line - racing. You can't rotate on this one; they take care of that for you in the way you're hooked onto the line. Our leaders explained that how you hold your body can help reduce wind drag, but that how much you weigh counts more than your aerodynamic body position, So sorry Galileo, there's also wind resistance to consider. The heavier person usually wins. At the end of that zip, we were charging very fast into a building and I thought we'd die crashing. The mechanism stopped up magically. There was a crowd watching and waiting and clapping and cheering.

This whole adventure was perfect for my fearful friend. She was as stiff as a log the whole time, but proclaimed strongly that she had fun. I don't think she'd do it again, though.
 
Last edited:

MissySki

Angel Diva
I’ve done the one at Bretton Woods, it was beautiful and fun! I much prefer Magic Mountain’s though, the ropes course going up makes it so different than just being brought to the top to zip down. Haven’t been to Attitash’s unfortunately.

I’ve also been wanting to try the one at Foxwood’s casino in CT, I went to the spa there and was having lunch outside and these people were whizzing by on the zipline. It launches from 33 stories up, so you are 350 feet in the air and go an average of 45mph and up to 60mph.

https://foxwoodshighflyer.com/?gcli...LSVKbDg6IilmbDG8p-6dXtVVWV_jwA0xoCFk0QAvD_BwE
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
Did the one at Tremblant years ago....don't think just do it. Get a Go Pro attached to your helmet!!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I really liked the one at BWoods when I did it with a friend who was deathly afraid of heights. . . .

This whole adventure was perfect for my fearful friend. She was as stiff as a log the whole time, but proclaimed strongly that she had fun. I don't think she'd do it again, though.
My SIL said she had fun on the body harness zip line in central NC. But was quite clear that once was enough. She's done a zipline and has no need to do another one in this lifetime. :smile:

Every zipline or high ropes course I've ever done has a training section. There is more than one type of harness and clip-in system, so even someone with zip line experience needs to learn how the system works at a given course. The landing for the zip lines on GoApe courses take a little practice. GoApe is a high ropes experience that you do without a guide. The zip lines are relatively short and not too fast. The landing is on the ground, not on a platform with someone waiting to assist. Perhaps a little like how you are supposed to land when parachuting from what I've seen on video. The idea is to landing on your feet running.

Here's a report about an 80-something woman having a great time at The Gorge. She's clearly not the average resident of a retirement community though. Friends took the community bus with her but didn't participate. Most looked quite a bit younger than she was.

 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Found my mini-TR from 2014 about The Gorge zipline over the Green River in NC. I noted that the ride feels faster if looking towards the line, as opposed to sideways at the view.

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/i...mer-fun-photo-thread.18153/page-2#post-268185

". . . zipline course above the Green River. The Gorge is unusual on the east coast because they are using ZipStop, so no manual braking is required. Some hand over hand is required to get to the platform after you stop. It's a tree canopy course with a couple lines that are 1000 ft, with total vertical of 1100 from top to bottom. The course zigzags down the mountain. Apparently top speed is around 30 mph. But I don't think lightweights get going quite that fast. Great fun!

Full body harness means a comfortable ride, plus "handlebars" make it easier to keep from twisting. Feels much faster if looking in the direction of travel instead of the view of the gorge."
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
So I did it yesterday! And I am so proud of myself! Yes, it was a little scary -- for about 3 seconds. Then SO MUCH FUN! It's in two parts: the first is a mile long and you're waaaay above the treetops. You reach speeds of 60-65 mph. The second part is shorter but steeper. Before you go, they give you some instruction and put you down a short baby line, so you know what to expect once you're up there. Anyway, it's done and I loved it!

Here's a video of the Attitash zip:

 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,233
Messages
497,562
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top