Canopy Adventure San Jose de la Montaña.
A zip-line consists of a pulley suspended on a cable mounted on an incline. They are designed to enable a user propelled by gravity to cross from a higher platform to a lower platform on an inclined cable, tipicaly made of stainless steel, by holding on or attaching to a freely moving pulley.
This cables are attached to trees and or poles. Longer and higher rides are often used as a means of accessing unusual areas (a rainforest canopy for instance) or found at outdoor adventure camps. This Zip-lines are also known as a flying fox, zip wire, aerial runway, death slide or tyrolean crossing in other parts of the world.
Professional versions of a zip-line are most typically used as an outdoor adventure activity. In contrast to “flying foxes” professional courses are usually operated at higher speeds covering much longer distances and sometimes at considerable heights. The users are physically attached to the cable by wearing a harness which attaches to a removable trolley. A helmet is required on almost all courses of any size.
Cables can be very high, starting at a height of over 30 feet (9 m), and traveling well over 1500 feet (457 m). All zip line cables have some degree of sag. The proper tensioning of a cable is important and allows the ability to tune the ride of a zip line.
In order to be propelled by gravity, the cable needs to be on a fairly steep slope. Even then the car will generally not travel completely to the end, although this will depend on the user’s weight and some means of safely stopping the user at the bottom end is sometimes needed.
Users of zip-lines must have means of stopping themselves. Typical mechanisms include:
* Thick heavy-duty leather gloves.
* A mat or netting at the lower end of the incline.
* Gravity stop utilizing the inherent nature of the sag in the cable.
The belly of the cable is always lower than the termination point. The amount of uphill on a zip line controls the speed at which the zipist arrives at the termination point.
Costa Rica is known for their Canopy Tours where a vacationer can zip through the rainforest. The zip-lines are scattered among several platforms, some as high as 130 feet.
Our mission:
To provide clients with a safe and exciting means for seeing and experiencing the natural wonder of Costa Rican Rain Forest, while always aiding in the preservation of the mountains’ land and culture, so that they may retain their body and spirit for all future generations.
Canopy Adventure was founded in 1999 by Ingrid Steinvorth with the goal of not only providing Costa Ricans and world visitors with an exciting new activity, but also instilling a sense of responsibility in San José de la Montaña’s activity industry.
It is our belief that by making meaningful monetary and physical contributions toward various preservation efforts on Costa Rica, Canopy Adventure can have a positive impact on the country’s community.
Beyond conservation, Canopy Adventure is committed to developing an extremely safe and well-researched zip-line tour industry. To this end we regularly redesign equipment and safety test our equipment and course. What we learn is then applied on our tour, to ensure maximal comfort and safety for our guests.
