Zip Line Safety Standards

Every adventure activity has inherent risks, but in our zip line canopy tour we manage those risks by careful planning and attention to detail in both the construction of the course and in the ongoing training and management of our staff. Zoar Outdoor has an excellent safety record on the whitewater rafting, kayaking, rock climbing and other programs that we have run for over 20 years. We bring this same level of care to our Zip Line operation at Deerfield Valley Canopy Tours.

• Our course was designed and built by Project Adventure (PA) and is inspected twice annually by Challenge Towers Aerial Adventures.
  • PA and Challenge Towers are Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) certified vendors. PA is the only Adventure organization that is both accredited through the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) and is a Professional Vendor Member (PVM) of the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT).
  • Project Adventure has a risk management program directed by a full-time Risk Manager supported by contract engineers and a Risk Management Committee comprised of installation, technical training and program delivery specialists.
  • All new zip line and other high elements and construction designs are subject to review by our builders.
  • Challenge course installation and inspection staff participate in regular competency-based training and reviews.

• Our course has redundancy built into every system with dual cable zip lines, hand braking that allows the user to control their speed and prevent spinning out and backup brakes.
• We are committed to a high level of staff training. Each guide trains for at least 40 hours before working on the course and has first aid and CPR training. The primary goal of our guides is your wellbeing.
• We keep our ratio of guests to guides at 8 to 2.
• Participants are clipped in to the course at all times when at height.
• Participants are trained on our ground school before starting on the first zip line to ensure that all participants are familiar with and adhere to safe zipping technique.
• Our course is licensed with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• We inspect our course and our equipment daily and have our course inspected by outside vendors semi-annually.
• We provide top-quality gear from leading suppliers including Petzl, Liberty Mountain and Metolius.
• We inspect our equipment daily and keep equipment use logs that help determine when to retire equipment,
• We maintain easy accessibility to the course for evacuation in the event of an incident.