I Flew the Coop!

Elaine and I disappeared for a week over to the Shuswap in B.C. for a week to visit our oldest son and family on his 41st birthday. We didn't do much other than sit around with our family and some old friends from 20+ years ago.

Tensioning the First

To keep 6 kids under the age of 11 entertained, we concocted 2 Zip lines for their amusement.
Picture this: A safety director (all of the U.S.) for a major company, a safety corrections/inspector for the alberta government, and me, a retired jack of all trades, building a Zip line!

Take off Point

The first one was about 75 feet made out of a climbing rope. Adequate, but too short. The solution was to get 200 feet of wire rope, a come-along for tensioning, scaffold (2 levels for landing, and a step ladder for access. The brake! Almost forgot the brake. After sending a 50 pound block of wood down as a test run and having it hit the end ( a tree) with enough force to do a couple of 360 degree loops, it was decided the zip line needed a brake!

Early Run With Emergency Brake

Two blocks of wood bolted together with a hole in the middle and a rope to pull on sufficed. It actually worked. I was impressed. After the angle of slide through the trees was adjusted, lower end up, and upper end down, it worked great.

Solo Run

Until the kids could show 3 consecutive runs without my son stopping them with a rope, they were free to solo. My son ran alongside at a full gallop holding on to the emergency rope in case it was needed.

The 9 year old and the rest really enjoyed the project.

The 5 year old and the rest really enjoyed the project.

 Note: No kids, trees, dogs, or adults were seriously hurt in this exercise!