The Zip- Line | Teen Ink

The Zip- Line

January 12, 2010
By Samantha Schwartz BRONZE, Los Angeles, Colorado
Samantha Schwartz BRONZE, Los Angeles, Colorado
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

I have been on the world's longest zip- line. I know people always talk about the ones they have been on in Costa Rica but on those you stop from station to station. The one I was on was a continuous mile- long zip- line. I was on a cruise in Alaska with my family and my cousin's family. We got to this tiny little island that no one really knew about called Icy Straight Point. When we got off the ship I started looking around and I was nervous about the zip- line. I looked up and saw a bunch of wires and poles nearby, I asked my dad in a an anxious way if those were the zip lines he laughed and said no, a few seconds later we saw four people go flying by on the very same wires and my dad shrugged at me. I was already very nervous with my fear of falling, so I was extremely hesitant as we headed for the buses. It was a forty- five minute bus ride up the mountain where the platform of the line resided at a height of thirteen hundred fifty feet. My younger cousin was singing songs of death and sadness so my anxiety was not hushed on the bus ride. Then we got out of the bus and had to walk a quarter of a mile, we had to stay close together to “watch out for bears”. Our island leader, worker told us not to go near a tree he pointed out because if you go past it you fall down a cliff face and die. I was practically exploding with fear and worries with my fears of heights and falling and then getting mauled by a bear. We finally get to the platforms and it is me, my dad and both of my brothers getting strapped in first. A guy helped me get into my “seat” and got me all buckled. I was on the brink of tears as they adjusted the goggles they had placed on my face. I sat waiting for them to open the gates, my eyes shut tight, I heard a bell and suddenly I was no longer resting on anything, my stomach dropped slightly but my eyes had not opened yet. After the first five seconds I peeked, then I sat wide eyed looking at the beautiful plain of trees and ponds that I was seeing pass below me. It was breath taking (literally). Due to my weight being vastly less than that of my male family members I made it down to the bottom last. When I got off of it I was already to go again.



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