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Vail Mountain set to debut new activities Saturday

Employees at Adventure Ridge on Vail Mountain receive training on the ropes challenge course. The ropes courses as well as the new zipline will premiere Aug. 10.
Mark Hendrickson | Vail Resorts |

VAIL — Vail Mountain will celebrate the grand opening of new summer activities at Adventure Ridge on Saturday with the debut of a four-line, 1,200-foot long zipline and two ropes challenge courses. Beginning at 11 a.m., there will be free treats and drinks while they last outside at Eagle’s Nest.

The resort began construction at Adventure Ridge earlier this spring in conjunction with the close of the mountain for winter operations. The expansion is the first step toward activities outlined in the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act. The new activities are also a small-scale example of some of the things proposed in the Epic Discovery plan, anticipated for summer 2015 at Vail Mountain, pending U.S. Forest Service approval.

“We’re excited to be able to launch our new zipline and ropes courses this weekend,” said Chris Jarnot, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Mountain. “They will be fun additions to the guest experience on Vail Mountain in the summer and provide our guests and the community a glimpse of the kinds of activities we hope to offer when our vision for the full Epic Discovery plan is implemented.”



One of the new activities at Adventure Ridge, located at Eagle’s Nest, is a four-line, 1,200-foot long zipline located west of the current tubing hill lift, the Adventure Skyway (No. 28). Guests riding the zipline will access the activity by initially riding the Adventure Skyway and then taking the Little Eagle Lift (No. 15) to return closer to Adventure Ridge.

Also opening Saturday are two new ropes challenge courses, each featuring three levels of elements for guests to maneuver, including ladders, rope bridges, swinging logs, cargo nets and more, all within the safety of a harness. The south course is a beginner course that features four distinct, more stable elements for guests to climb and conquer while the north course is an intermediate to advanced course with more than a dozen different elements requiring more balance and upper body strength to successfully complete.

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In addition to construction of the new activities, the resort has also removed existing modular buildings and is conducting re-vegetation work in the Adventure Ridge area to enhance the aesthetics of the area.

The Adventure Ridge enhancement proposal was submitted in April 2012 and includes upgrades and enhancements that were anticipated in the resort’s 2007 Master Development Plan.

While the plans for Adventure Ridge are consistent with the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act, they are separate from the proposed Epic Discovery, a Summer Mountain Adventure, which is a broader summer expansion plan for Vail Mountain.

For more information about Vail Mountain, visit http://www.vail.com, stop by the Mountain Information Center, open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., or call 970-SKI-VAIL.


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