Zip! Pi! Di! Do! Dah! (redux)

This is my account of our zipline adventure...

This morning we managed to get out of the hotel by 9:30 and headed straight for Olympic Park, site of yesterday’s ill-fated attempt at adventure sports. It was sunny and 85 degrees and our adventure-lust was stoked. Or something like that. We opted for the “Silver Package”, which included the ultra-zipline (750 feet), the x-treme zipline (1500 feet) and the alpine slide. Frankly, I’m not one for thrill-seeking rides. At amusement parks I’m known as “the one who holds the purses and water bottles for others”. But the 18 year old selling the tickets assured me that it was all good. Dude! So, off we went. You take a chairlift up the mountain, while aspiring Olympians are practicing aerials on a slope covered with Astroturf right next to you. The 18 year olds at the top of the chairlift strap you into harnesses and open the chutes as if you’re about to enter a bull fighting ring. The first 2-3 seconds I was terrified, but the slope levels off really fast and you’re just zipping down the line at between 40-50 mph—up until the point where you abruptly stop at the end. Tim hit himself in the lip with his water bottle and drew blood, but otherwise there were no injuries on either run. Just as fun as the zipline was watching the ski jumpers practice their aerials into a big pool. There were little kids who were just learning and other more highly skilled jumpers. One poor kid didn’t get up enough speed on the small jump and tried to abandon the jump in midstream. Luckily he didn’t hurt himself but he kind of sailed off the side of the ramp into the side of the pool.