On June 3, 2012, ACE Adventure Resort attempted to break the world record of the most people on a zip line in one hour. Not only did they break the previous world record… they shattered it.
ACE Adventure Resort sent 183 people down a 204 feet zip line named “Sunshine Zip.” The previous record held in Germany consisted of 122 zips down a 164 feet zip line. It will take a couple weeks for the record to be reviewed and verified by officials at Guinness, but we already consider it a major success for ACE.
At Sunday morning’s check-in you could truly feel the excitement and energy of every person involved. People arrived as early 6:30 am for the 9:00 am check-in. Participants were given a blue commemorative t-shirt while staff members wore the same design in orange. The sea of blue and orange t-shirts was impressive.
Behind the scenes, staff members were moving at break-neck speed. Before participants could even get to the zip line, they had to be geared up at a tent across from the trail. One guide commented that it was like working behind a fashion show— people climbing out of their gear as fast as possible to get the next group of zippers ready to go! It may have looked hectic, but the system got everyone harnessed in and ready to go with plenty of time.
Everyone got a little practice on our zip line tour, participants had to zip through the shorter Mighty Mouse zip line to get to the actual zip line being used for the challenge, Sunshine Zip. Once clipped in and cleared for take off, each person sped through each zip and then was quickly dismounted by trained guides. By the end of the day, the guides’ arms were bruised and beaten from working so quickly. I’d say they did a pretty great job—The average amount of time it took to cross 204 feet of zip line was approximately 20 seconds!
At roughly 1:15 pm the record was broken. Cheers could be heard throughout the impressive 1500-acre ACE property. It was a great way for folks from all kinds of backgrounds to come together and work as a team for a common goal. When the final horn buzzed, it was a goose bumps moment. Beyond the hoots and hollers were hugs, smiles and an overwhelming sense of community. We had become a team and will be forever bonded together with the bragging rights to say, “I’m a World Record Holder.”
