Opening date for zipwire
OUTDOOR adventure company Zip World has announced the opening date of its new site. The attraction, which is being built on the spot once occupied by Tower Colliery, will welcome visitors from April 26.
OUTDOOR adventure company Zip World has announced the opening date of its new site in Wales.
The attraction, which is being built on the spot once occupied by the iconic Tower Colliery, will start to welcome visitors from April 26.
Thrillseekers will be able to enjoy two new experiences in the form of Zip World Phoenix and Big Red – travelling at speed from high up on Rhigos Mountain down to where that once bustling deep mine stood in Hirwaun, prior to its closure in 2008.
The former is officially the world’s fastest seated zip line, with four parallel lines in two separate zip zones, while the latter will allow children to ride alongside one another on a 270ft line, making it the largest mobile zip in the world. A side-by-side industrial-style toboggan rollercoaster called the Tower Coaster is also scheduled to launch in late May and promises to be the only one of its kind in Europe.
The development, dubbed Zip World Tower, is Zip World’s first site outside North Wales, the company having grown rapidly since launching its first super-fast zip line at Penrhyn Quarry in Bethesda in 2013.
Over the past five years the company has contributed £251m to the North Wales economy, according to a 2018 report from North Wales Tourism, and created 450 permanent jobs, with 93% of the staff living locally.
Zip World Tower will create another 50 jobs on top of that, a figure that will likely increase as the site develops and notches up an estimated 100,000 visitors in its first year of operation.
Sean Taylor, founder of Zip World, said: “From slate caverns to quarry carting, Wales is home to some of the world’s best outdoor adventure destinations.
“We have proven experience of preserving and regenerating iconic sites, and as a passionate Welshman, I couldn’t think of a better location than the South Wales Valleys to create a new legacy and grow our brand outside of North Wales for the first time.”