Townsend Bessent/Vail Daily Archives
Vail Mountain may not be offering its current zipline canopy tour, but that’s not stopping them from coming up with a new one.
In fact, according to its latest master plan, the resortstates that the current zipline tour is actually in use, claiming, “Adventure Ridge offers a variety of activities including treetop canopy tours, ziplines, mountain coasters, obstacle courses, summer tubing, scenic gondola rides, disc golf, bungee trampolines, mountaintop 4WD tours, summer tubing, a rock climbing wall, and a system of hiking, biking, and multi-use trails.”
But Vail Mountain’s Game Creek Canopy Tour is not only not running in 2024, it hasn’t been running for several years.
Game Creek Aerial Adventure is a series of seven ziplines built as part of a $25 million summer recreation improvement plan. It opened in 2016, but two injuries occurred on the Vail zipline in the summer of 2017. One incident in which the rider suffered a traumatic brain injury and a patella fracture led to a lawsuit which a judge dismissed due to the liability waivers signed before the tour.
These were not the only serious incidents on a Vail Resorts zip line. On the company’s zip line in Stowe, Vermont, which opened in 2015, worker Scott Lewis was killed on September 23, 2021.when a device that Vail Resorts had not updated failed and caused the crash, an investigation found.
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Lewis’ ex-wife and estate administrator Molly Lewis filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Vail Resorts, the Vermont Digger reported. in December.
The lawsuit accuses Vail of knowingly choosing not to replace the $26 canvas strap that caused the accident, even though the manufacturer recommended replacing such straps annually, the Digger reported.
“The Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration, after an investigation, determined that the tape was four years old and showed signs of wear after nearly three full seasons of heavy use,” the Digger reported. “VOSHA fined the resort $27,000.”
In Vail, mountain officials announced in 2017 that the Game Creek Canopy Tour was closed indefinitely for maintenance following the summer’s accidents. It was the last official update from the resort on the status of the zipline tour.
In 2024, however, with the adoption of Vail Mountain’s latest master plan, the canopy tour is not only listed as an attraction currently operating, but it is mentioned alongside another previously approved but unimplemented canopy tour that the mountain says it would like to implement. The other canopy tour is called the Front Side Canopy Tour and has been approved for the route from Mid-Vail to the base of Gondola 1.
“It will consist of ten interconnected zip lines over 5.2 miles,” the plan states. “The longest segment will be approximately 1,000 meters long and will carry users over 150 meters above the ground.”
The Front Side Canopy Tour is one of several new summer activities planned for the mountain, according to the 2024 Master Plan.
“There are a number of previously approved but not yet implemented summer activity projects that Vail plans to implement during the term of this MPD,” the document states. “These activities include the Front Side Canopy Tour, the Waterfront Experience, a modified horse trail and a ropes course.”
But Vail Mountain spokeswoman Rachel Levitsky said the inclusion of these activities in the document should not be viewed as an actual plan; rather, it is a beacon that the resort can follow.
“The resort’s Master Development Plan is a guide for future improvements and is intended to create a comprehensive recreation experience for all guests of the (White River National Forest) while maintaining operational efficiencies for Vail Mountain,” Levitsky said. “The Master Development Plan was created through an iterative and collaborative process between Vail Mountain planners and Forest Service personnel in the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District, which manages the special use permit. Acceptance of the Master Development Plan by the Forest Service as a planning tool for Vail does not imply approval to implement the projects identified.”
Levitsky said the 2024 Master Plan is intended to be a dynamic document that can be amended periodically to reflect changes in facilities and recreational activities.
“It outlines Vail Mountain’s strategies for maintaining a high-quality recreation facility on National Forest Service lands while allowing flexibility in achieving those goals,” she said.
