Soar above Manitou on a zip line

Lennon Lancaster could have done most anything for her 15th birthday. She chose to spend it in the hot, dusty canyons just west of Manitou Springs. Well, ABOVE them rather than in them. “I love that when you go down you get butterflies in your stomach,” said Lennon. “It makes me want to smile.”

See photo from our zipline adventure!

Lennon experienced that butterfly-inducing beauty while zip-lining, a fast-growing outdoor activity that involves speeding across chasms while attached to a cable.

They have been popping up around Colorado in recent years, and the Pikes Peak region got its first large zip line course in July, thanks to Adventures Out West.

Dozens of people a day are experiencing nature and gravity at speeds of nearly 30 mph on the zip line course, a rush that is even better when you do it upsidedown.

“It’s not every day you get to fly through the air,” said Stephen Frasier, our guide on a recent afternoon.

Adventures Out West started 36 years ago with hot air balloon rides, and also offers Jeep and Segway tours. The company spent three years looking for a place to build zip lines and acquiring permits.

It’s easy to see why they chose this canyon, part of a working ranch. It’s close enough to attract Colorado Springs residents and tourists, the foothills are scenic and, most importantly, the canyons are deep.

For those who buy the $90 “real deal” package, the tour starts with a ride up a four-wheel-drive road from Manitou. Customers who buy the $60 “value” tour make the 10-minute walk uphill.

At the top, once you’re strapped into a snug harness, you get a trolley, the rectangular runner that glides along the cables. A safety lesson on a low-hanging cable follows, and then you’re ready to go.

“This will be fun because none of it’s fake. They didn’t have to make a mountain,” said David Cox, of Dallas, one of eight others in our group, all but two tourists.

Just about anyone can zip, provided you weigh between 75 and 250 pounds and are able to walk up some minor trails. It’s about a half-mile of hiking.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Lennon’s mother, Mychelle Lancaster is afraid of heights, and Frasier handed her “lucky number 19” trolley.

“We haven’t had any fatalities on that one yet,” he said.

“Did I not tell you I was afraid of heights?” Lennon said.

Her first run was tentative, and she took a deep breath before walking to the precipice. But when she zipped down, screams turned to cheers and a fist pump.

It’s an exhilarating thumbing of the nose at gravity.

Though the drop below the cable is precipitous, 120 feet at its deepest, there is a safety system. One guide attaches each rider to the cable, checking to ensure he or she is correctly buckled, and another waits at the end of the cable to catch you. Each rider has a brake strap to control speed — not that you really need to — and a system of two brakes at the end stops you.

The system’s not infallible, as we saw when a 12-year-old came in with too much speed, bounced off the end of the zip line and drifted to a stop high above the canyon. It took the guides 10 minutes to haul him in.

The boy was smiling. He got the longest ride of anyone.

“Value” riders get one trip on each of five zip lines, while “real deal” riders get eight trips.
Lennon pronounced the zip lines “way more fun” than the one she had ridden at church camp.

Mychelle Lancaster was also smiling, and by the end was even opening her eyes as she zipped down the cables.

“Now I’m starting to enjoy it,” she said.