Zippity-doo-dah

By Matt Armstrong

Journal Staff Writer

HARPERS FERRY - A new attraction has "zipped" into Harpers Ferry, enhancing the existing recreational opportunities offered by local business River Riders.

The Harpers Ferry Canopy Tour, a zip-line canopy tour through area around Harpers Ferry, opened over Memorial Day weekend and had its official ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday evening. River Riders has been planning the course for about two years, according to Tacy Judd, the company's marketing director.

River Riders wanted to have the zip-line tour to give guests at its Harpers Ferry campground, as well as local residents and other tourists, an activity to do that isn't as dependent on water levels, Judd said.

"Water levels here can be pretty low in the summertime, so this gives them an option," she said. "Plus, some people aren't water people. ... (It's) something that they can do that doesn't require them liking the water. You get a great view of the water, but you don't have to get in it."

The Harpers Ferry Canopy Tour is a unique attraction for the area, and for West Virginia, because it's the only zip-line canopy tour available in the state, according to River Riders owner Matt Knott.

"It's a very unique experience. ... They are popular in other parts of the country and other parts of the world, but this is the first canopy tour that's in the whole D.C. metro area that's exclusively just a canopy tour," he said.

Several local officials were present at the opening ceremony and took a ride on one section of zip line, including Jefferson County Commissioner Lyn Widmyer, Harpers Ferry Mayor-elect Joe Anderson, Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Heather Morgan and Delegate Tiffany Lawrence, D-Jefferson.

The canopy tour actually required the West Virginia Legislature to pass enabling legislation allowing such an attraction in the state. Passed on one of the final days of this year's legislative session, the new law might encourage tourism to areas where businesses build and market zip-line tours, Lawrence said.

"I've done a high-ropes course before, but never anything quite this high, and I think at the end of the platform my heart skipped a beat a couple times," Lawrence joked after riding the zip-line, calling it "sincerely invigorating."

Participants on the tour should weigh at least 120 pounds so that their momentum can carry them forward on certain sections of the tour, and there is a weight limit of 250 pounds. However, smaller participants such as children can do the tour in tandem with another participant to give them the necessary weight, Judd said.

David & Suzanne's Big Frickin' Motorcycle Adventure: Zippity Doo Dah!

Mom was the first to spring out of bed. Well, spring might be too strong a word. Slithered is more like it. You can’t imagine how many muscles you use riding a motorcycle. Then add several hours of intense panic on top of that and it tends to tax the tendons a bit. Think of a rubber band that's been twisted along its length, oh . . . several thousand times. "Like a baby. Or like someone that's been sedated. And none of the dentist office, 'we're going to give you something to help you relax' sedation. I'm talking the good stuff. The major surgery sedation. The black hole sedation. The 'Okay, the procedure will take about 7 hours so we're giving you . . . time to wake up! It's all over!' sedation." She gave me a quizzical look, trying to decide if she was going to bring up the fact that we were going to be eating 'family style' with a group of people that may, or may not, be hostile. I saw her calculate, saw the wheels spin, and finally - thank Jeebus - she decided that this particular battle could wait until she'd washed the cobwebs from her brain. She looked at me hard. As if she hadn't decided whether my still being here was a positive or a negative. Oh cruel woman, must you carry a grudge? I hadn't had her close to death in what . . . 9 hours? Some people just can't let go. Sad really. Anyway, with a shrug she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. I had survived one of the most dangerous times of the day - pre-shower. Whatever followed should be a piece of cake.

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