Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 7

India’s first cable-to-rail roller coaster zipline — Flying Ox — is the latest addition to the list of tourist attractions in Kufri near Shimla. Adventure lovers will be able to experience the thrill from next week.

Within less than two months after the world’s first roller coaster zipline opened in Smoky Mountains Tennessee, a state in the United States, Shimla earned the credit for bringing the free-flying adventure to India.

The new attraction has added another dimension to adventure and entertainment in Kufri, once known for skiing, but with snow season shrinking and skiing shifting to the higher hills, this tourist destination has turned to adventure tourism and three amusement parks have come up in Kufri.

The 500-foot-long ride takes riders 70 feet in the air in a zipline position, but instead of travelling in a straight line, riders will wind, drop and soar through the air at approximately 15 kmh. It takes 45 seconds to complete the ride and over 60 persons can be accommodated in an hour.

“We collaborated with Nail India Adventure Private Limited, Pune, the leader in the zipline industry, to design and create the ride. The pulleys and equipment were imported from Italy,” said owner of Nagsons Amusement and Adventure Park “Hip Hip Hurry” Nishant Nag, who came up with the innovative idea.

Civil work and the structural construction undertaken at the site took almost three months and the set up cost Rs 30 lakh, he said, claiming that it was the first roller coaster zipline in the country. It is unique as the riders do not move in a straight line like a typical zipline ride.

Earlier, adventures like ziplining, Burma bridge, Bunjee jumping, rock climbing, ATV bikes, dashing cars, virtual reality games and cinema, haunted house, water roller and mirror maze were being offered, but this coaster, which combines both a zipline and a coaster to cable midair adds a thrill to the ride.

In September this year, Paula Deen’s Lumberjack Feud Show and Adventure Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee hogged the limelight for opening the Flying Ox, the world’s first cable-to-rail roller coaster zipline.