Ziplining at the Super Bowl

First it was Japadog opening an eatery in New York. Now B.C.-based Ziptrek Ecotours is poised to bring its ziplining experience to the Super Bowl. Another B.C. entrepreneurial idea takes off. Like probably half the men in the city, I just spent much of the weekend lumping out in front of the television watching the American football march to the Super Bowl. (And thank God that we no longer have to hear about Tim Tebow’s miracles!)

By Tony Wanless / January 19, 2012

First it was Japadog opening an eatery in New York. Now B.C.-based Ziptrek Ecotours is poised to bring its ziplining experience to the Super Bowl. Another B.C. entrepreneurial idea takes off.

Like probably half the men in the city, I just spent much of the weekend lumping out in front of the television watching the American football march to the Super Bowl.

(And thank God that we no longer have to hear about Tim Tebow’s miracles!)

So, it’s nice to see that a B.C. company is going to be prominent in the Super Bowl extravaganza in Indianapolis.

Whistler-based Ziptrek Ecotours, which brought the weird idea of “urban ziplining” to the Vancouver Olympics, is going to install a zipline in Indiana as part of the fun of Super Bowl Week, January 27 – February 2.

The zipline will run directly down Capital Ave., next to the Indiana Convention Center. The Super Bowl installation is Ziptrek’s biggest onsite installation yet, with four lines running 800 feet or 244 meters.

Presumably, the zipline will be as popular at the Super Bowl as it was at the Vancouver Olympics, where people often waited for several hours for their chance to zip.

It will also bring the B.C.-created “sport” to thousands of people who had never heard of it, but will likely rave about the thrill of sliding down the zipline with the icy wind blowing by their faces.

I don’t know how the Ziptrek people got to be part of the Super Bowl festivities, but I do congratulate them for selling the organizers on the idea. It’s a great example of the entrepeneurial spirit that runs through this province.

Maybe it’s because we have so few of the jobs that are so numerous back east, or maybe it’s just because living on the West Coast gets the imagination … uh … zipping along.

We do seem to generate some weird business ideas here. And many are successful. Look at Japadog – again, a huge success at the Olympics – that recently opened a branch in New York City.

I mean, who would have thought that sending someone rocketing down a cable through the frigid air would be a business?