Zip drive | Sugarloaf's newest attraction elevates riders, ticket sales
Photo/Bobbie Hanstein
Jim McCormack, director of competition and events at Sugarloaf, says the new zip line attraction has been a big draw
Jim McCormack thought the new zip line tour at Sugarloaf would do well. Just not this well.
It opened in August to sold-out crowds, zero injuries and what McCormack calls “happy screams.”
Director of competition and events at the popular Maine ski resort in Carrabasesett Valley, he was tasked last spring with designing a zip line attraction for the mountain. The first order of business: Get out there and zip.
“When this project was handed to me, I went down to New Hampshire and rode some,” McCormack says. “There’s quite a bit to it.”
In mid-May, his own project got off the ground. “We cruised the woods all over in a couple different areas,” he says, looking for fun terrain that wouldn’t lead to cutting down too many trees.
The end result: A ride that starts about 400 yards uphill from the base area, accessible by a hike, and six platforms in the trees between 25 and 10 feet off the ground. Zip line is strung between the platforms in segments from 130 to 249 feet long. In some cases, riders zip from platform to platform; in others, there’s a short walk.
He and another employee spent weeks test riding the lines to get the pitch and tension just right. McCormack describes the tour as more zig-zagging over a brook than a single, canopy-topping free for all. It’s designed to be family friendly with some adrenaline rush. He estimated that the riders, tethered in full-body harnesses, can reach speeds of up to 25 mph.
“It’s amazing how many people will carry a camera,” McCormack says.
Since it opened Aug. 7, the tour has attracted a mix of out-of-state tourists and in-state visitors. The oldest couple so far? An 85- and 84-year-old husband and wife.
“They loved it,” he says.
For now the tours operate on Saturdays, Sundays and weekdays by appointment, something that might change, says resort spokesman Brad Larsen, according to customer demand. The zip line tour has meant additional jobs for the resort, but figures for the number of new hires and the size of the investment weren’t available due to ongoing “tweaks and refinements,” he says.
Since 2007, Sugarloaf has been owned by Boyne Resorts, a private, family-owned company. (Sister resort Sunday River also opened a zip line tour the same weekend.)
Winter, Larsen says, remains bigger than summer for Sugarloaf revenue, but the zip lines have been a nice added draw. McCormack is already looking ahead. The lines will stay open this winter, in all but extreme temperatures, though too much snow might eventually sideline the platforms. He’s working on having riders use the zip line at night.
“You put a headlamp on, it could be a very cool experience,” McCormack says.
He’d like to add two platforms next year, bringing the count up to eight and lengthening the course. He also says Boyne is working on towers for a second zip line trip at Sugarloaf. “We’re talking right now about putting a big, long one up,” McCormack says. “That could run year-round, no problem.”
On Sugarloaf’s website, reservations are “strongly encouraged” for the tour, which costs $39 per person, but for now, riders who don’t make reservations are likely to go home with less zip in their step.
“We’re selling out every weekend, prior to,” McCormack says. “Zip lines are a really big thing right now. I had a hunch we’d be selling out, but I really didn’t think it’d be pre-sold.”
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