ZIP LINE TESTING
Dear HIW,
I went on a zip line for the first time, which was so scary but amazing. I had never been on one before, but my friend has been on a few. It made me wonder when the first zip lines were made. Are they relatively new?
Annabel Sword
Zip lines have been used through history as a method of transport across mountainous areas, for example in the Nujiang Valley of China. This remote area once had many zip lines that people used to cross its rivers. Many have now been replaced with bridges as safer, more permanent methods.
The first zip line as a form of entertainment dates back to 1739, but modern zip lines rose in popularity in the 1970s. Biologists used them as tools to suspend themselves above jungle canopies and research the environment around them, but the design was soon picked up by entrepreneurs and converted to rides for adrenaline seekers.