Pocahontas County Soon to be Home to the World’s Largest Zipline
West Virginia Division of Natural Resources announced Monday that an agreement was reached with Icarus Outdoor Adventures of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to erect the longest zipline in the world right here in Pocahontas County.
This adventure ride will attract people from all over the world, not only to take the ride of their lives but also to explore the many other outdoor opportunities in our wild and wonderful county.
Engineers with Icarus have been visiting the proposed zipline site for well over a year and have determined that the zipline will run from the observation tower at Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park down to Hillsboro.
The elevation of the tower is approximately 3,600 feet above sea level, and Hillsboro is 2,300 feet ASL, so the total drop in elevation experienced by the rider is an incredible 1,300 feet. The total distance of the ride is a whopping four miles, more than double the length of the current longest zipline in the United Arab Emirates.
Talk about a fast descent: speeds of 150 mph are typical, given the total drop and the zipline’s angle. As for braking, the Icarus zipline features both initial and secondary braking. This thrill ride ought to attract adrenaline junkies from around the world to Pocahontas County.
For those of you who do not know what a zipline is, it’s simply a suspended inclined cable equipped with a pulley and down which a harnessed rider glides for recreational thrills. However, a lot of science and engineering go into designing and constructing a zipline.
To understand how the zipline is constructed, I spoke with Icarus’s chief engineer, Chadwick Quigley, who was only slightly less geeky than his name suggests.
Quigley began rattling off a comprehensive list of engineering terms, like Kinetic Coefficient, Peak 3-second Wind Gust Speed, Rolling Coefficient, and more gobblygook. Not understanding a word he said, I nodded and remarked, “Wow, that’s impressive, but what the hell does it mean?”
“Ah,” he replied, “We design our ziplines with the safety of the riders our paramount concern.”
Before the zipline is constructed, a site assessment is conducted to determine whether the slope is suitable for an exceptionally long zipline and to scout for take-off and landing zones.
The next step is design planning, which involves creating drawings and identifying any topographical features that may be problematic.
Construction first requires a rigorous determination of engineering considerations, such as cable specifications, proper tension, and sag.
The material selected by Icarus for such a long zipline includes galvanized aircraft cable, heavy-duty stainless steel pulleys, two-point harnesses, and high-speed trollies.
I can already feel the excitement rippling through our county and beyond, so I took a survey of locals to hear what they think about the zipline, and here are some of their responses. I will use their first names to protect their privacy.
Beth, of Lobelia, said she plans to ride the zipline on her 90th birthday with her cat, Marybell. She may want to rethink taking Marybell, unless she fancies being a human scratching post for a freaked-out cat.
When asked what he thought of the zipline, Alvin, a crotchety farmer in the area, had a lot to say, some of which would violate The Pocahontas Times’ moral standards. A goodly portion of Alvin’s diatribe has been altered for the sake of common decency.
Alvin began by proclaiming, “Why in the h#@l do we need a zipperline here in our county?” As soon as I started to answer his rhetorical question, Alvin cut me off and kept on ranting, “Why, when I was a kid, we didn’t need a d%$n contraption to entertain us. Just hung a rope from a tree with an old tire to set our a%&#s in, and we were happier than a puppy with two tails.” And, if you ask me, we don’t need those f&%$%$g ski contraptions either, here in this county.”
As I walked back to my car, I could hear Alvin continuing his diatribe, punctuated with such colorful language that it would make a sailor blush.
I also talked to Larry, our 76-year-old Senior Olympics half-marathon winner 10 years in a row, and still at it. Larry never misses a chance to indulge his athleticism. He said he couldn’t wait to ride the zipline down to Hillsboro, where he would pass up the shuttle back to Droop Mountain and run back up the 1,300 feet of steep mountainside to fetch his car. Well, that’s why Lar-ry is as fit as a butcher’s dog.
I talked to Pocahontas County’s number one pessimist, Judd.
In his whiny voice, he weighed in on the zipline, saying, “ I just see problems with the zipline, so I’m against it. What will the passenger see sliding down over Droop Mountain at 150 mph, but rocks, trees and copulating cows, what’s so great about that?’
With some reservations, I decided to find out what our local conspiracy theorist Alex had to say about the zipline. “Why, that zipline is nothing more than a way for the government to distract us, so we won’t be demanding to see the UFO and its alien occupants recovered in Roswell in 1947, currently housed in a super-secret hangar at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.”
OK, not everyone is overjoyed at the prospect of having the longest zipline in the world here in Pocahontas County, but I’ve saved the best for last.
The zipline experience begins on Droop Mountain, but the landing zone will be situated in the parking lot of the Hillsboro Pub. After you remove your harness at the end of the ride, you can walk right into the Pub for a pint or a wonderful meal and regale your friends with your bravado. I’m not a clairvoyant, but I can see a new item on the Pub’s menu- the Zipliner Slider.
Happy April Fool’s Day,
Ken (don’t believe a word I write) Springer
ken1949bongo@gmail.com
