Once noteworthy for being the site of the longest strike in British industrial history, Penrhyn slate quarry in Gwynedd, north Wales, will distinguish itself anew this year by becoming the site of the longest zip wire in Europe. Zip World Snowdonia will take thrill-seekers over 200m up before whizzing them along a mile-long ride and back to earth. Zip wires have grown in popularity in recent years and are now considered major tourist attractions in destinations from Central America to south-east Asia. In the hope of rivalling the most petrifying of these, Zip World, whose cable will sustain speeds of up to 75mph, plans to incorporate a guided truck tour into the experience, shedding light on the history of the working mine for the benefit of its thrill-hungry punters.
• 01690 710 914, zipworld.co.uk. Tickets will cost £50 for adults, £40 for children
MORE ZIP WIRES AROUND THE WORLD
Chiangmai Jungle Flight, Thailand
Among the most sophisticated and engaging zip-wire destinations is this complex loop of cables and obstacles in the rainforest around Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. It sells itself as an eco-adventure ("Touch the face of nature!" says the website) but it is essentially an enormous elevated playground, fulfilling every whim of the thrill-seeker's appetite from zip wires and abseiling to vertiginous tree-bridges. If this is the face of nature, it is wearing a huge, childish grin.
• jungleflightchiangmai.com, from 2,200THB (£47) for a 4-5 hour tour or £55 for a 6-7 hour tour
Hollbank Treetops Adventure, Tasmania
More of a zip web than a zip wire, this sequence of tree-to-tree cables leads groups on a two- or three-hour round trip through thick Tasmanian forest. Hollbank Treetops Adventure is one of the few such attractions which can be taken at night, when the river which flows 30m beneath the "cloud stations" is lit with lamps. This is also when the jungle wildlife is at its most active and audible, turning the trip into a kind of zip safari.
• treetopsadventure.com.au, $115 adult (£76), $85 child (£56)
Fantasticable, TerrAltitude, Ardenne, France
Closer to home is the catchily-named "Fantasticable", which slings thrillseekers down a steep hill and over the river Meuse on the Franco-Belgian border. For those who are not planning a gap-year any time soon this should prove a more than adequate alternative, and though its location may not be exotic, it offers a peaceful, pastoral landscape through which you can plummet, screaming and cursing, at 80mph. "Intense sensations guaranteed!!!", promises its cheerful website.
• terraltitude.com/en/fantasticable.html, from €21-62 for adults (£18-£53), €15-25 for children (£13-£21)
The Zip, Adrenalin Quarry, Liskeard, Cornwall
When Zip World opens all the UK records will duly break, but until then The Zip in Cornwall will remain the longest zip wire in Britain. It clocks in at a mere 490m long, but it costs a reasonable £12.50 per jump (£7 for a second go) and the cable spans the length of a narrow, flooded quarry which almost seems built for the purpose. Leaping euphorically into the water after your descent is optional.
• adrenalinquarry.co.uk
Zzzip the Flying Fox, Yolosa, Bolivia
To get to Yolosa you have to navigate the crumbling precipices of the North Yungas road, widely and accurately considered "the most dangerous road in the world". If this experience proves to be too drab and cosy for your tastes, when you get there you can then careen down three consecutive zip wires above the leafy valley below. The attraction also hopes to benefit its small community, providing jobs to young locals and attracting tourists to the surrounding towns.
• ziplinebolivia.com, prices on application
Ziptrek Ecotours, Queenstown, New Zealand
As the self-styled 'Adrenaline Capital of the World', it's a wonder the residents of Queenstown don't go about their everyday business on a series of zip lines, bungees and paragliders. Certainly visitors can spend their every waking moment squealing as they try various adventure activities. Among them is the Ziptrek Ecotour on Bob's Peak. Accessed by gondola, or an hour-long walk, Ziptrek offers two guided tours from the top of the forested hill, taking riders over the canopy, the longer Kea Tour lasting three hours and covering a total distance of "10 rugby pitches".
ziptrek.com, Moa Tour NZ$129 per adult, $79 per child; Kea Tour NZ$179 per adult, NZ$129 child (gondola tickets not included).
ZipRider, Hoonah, Alaska
Zip World Snowdonia may soon become the longest zip wire in Europe but it will be 24 metres shy of the ZipRider, which dangles trippers over pine trees before landing them on the Pacific shore at the appropriately frightening-sounding Icy Strait Point. Despite catering almost exclusively to cruise passengers, ZipRider is no more docile than any other giant zip wire, and features six parallel cables to add a gratuitous element of competition.
• ziprider.com/rides/icy-strait-point. The ride is usually booked through the cruise line, but if visiting independently find more information at icystraitpoint.com/Book/LocalAccess
