Day in the Life of a Zipline Guide!

Day in the Life of a Zipline Guide!

Hi all! Sadie here, I am one of our lead guides here at Valley Zip, and I absolutely love my job. Every day is a little different, just like every guest who walks up our entrance pathway. (Why are all of the chipmunks that exist in the Dry Gulch Valley setting up camp there? I’ll never know, I don’t speak chipmunks, unfortunately.) However, we do have a median in terms of daily routine, even if it gets shaken up on a day to day basis. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what the average day looks like for us high-flying guides, boy have you clicked on the right page! Let’s gear up, shall we?

I start my day by pulling into the parking lot, as most folks with jobs and cars do. Unfortunately, ziplining to work is not an option. However, that might be a little more eco-friendly. After downing my remaining coffee, I enjoy my short walk up to the office. As I stated previously, the chipmunks enjoy waking me up with fright after darting in front of my feet. Entering the office, I enthusiastically greet my coworkers, and we do our daily check of our guide gear. This ensures that we can take care of our equipment which keeps us safe and secure. Usually, there are some weekend plans shared and always jokes to start off our day. Then we head on down to the gear shed to do our guest gear daily check. We don’t forget to bring tunes on down too, most of the time you can find Callum singing away to Zac Brown Band. I hear my name called over the radio, and I get excited to head on up to the office to gear up, and take out my very first tour of the day!

Once geared up, I check in with my partner guide, and we get hyped for our tour. It’s a really interesting perspective, being a guide. What can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some people, is one of three potential go ‘round’s we will get in a day. To be a part of someone’s “core memory” every day is such an amazing privilege, that when exhausted and sweaty, we sometimes forget. But part of a day in our lives does include some semblance of wonder in recognizing how many big moments we get to witness in a single day. Anyways, usually, I don’t monologue as we walk the guests down to gear up, because I doubt that would be very interesting for the (usually quite nervous) listener. Instead, I like to get to know small parts about my guests, and sometimes, they want to get to know me too! Once we arrive at the gear-up deck, it’s time for our spiel, and harnessing instructions. Hungry-hungry holsters have been played, helmets are strapped, and bolts are tightened. It’s time to rock and roll. We walk our guests over to the training course to receive instruction on how to use their SmartBelay system, and how to ride the zips in style. At least once per tour, I stifle a little laughter at the first near-bail on our landing platform, but you didn’t hear that from me. We then begin our course, and I always ride the first line with a plan forming in my mind. What jokes should I make on this tour? How can I make everyone’s experience better? Did I remember to water my herb garden this morning? (The answer to that last one is usually a no. Sorry, Mom, the green thumb did not pass down to this generation.) Clearing the first line, and watching my guests take the first step off of the platform is one of the highlights of the tour for me. Hearing the group cheer on a nervous guest, or a young kiddo being gung-ho to sail through the sky, all of the reactions to our first zipline ride let me know how to approach the next lines and cater the experience to those who are experiencing my tour.

All of the tricks are always a blast to see folks attempt as well. I especially enjoy the trick I like to nickname “The Noodle”, not just because it gives me a very janky spine chiropractic release, but also because of how my guests normally react. It’s hilarious to hear the various comments or shouts of surprise, as I always forget that this is most likely the first time any of the participants have seen such a display of airborne limpness (granted, as a very stiff person, my “Noodle” usually resembles more of an al dente piece of penne.) Line 6’s game is always a blast too, the cheers when someone sinks a shot carry stadium-level enthusiasm. The icing on the cake is always Lines 7&8. Pure decline and 722 feet of zipline seem somewhat regular to us, but there are always anticipatory ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ when we approach our final line. Some do achieve my favorite trick in their attempt, it being the upside-down maneuver of course. Taking photos at the top of 7 & 8 is always a part of the tour as well, so I suppose we can all add ‘zipline photographer’ to our resumes, how irresistible is that? Once all of the guests have made their descent, and my partner guide has cleared the lines for me, it’s time for my exhale moment. 

I set up my gear on the line, and I sail on down while very clearly imitating Spider-Man. The tour commences after we’ve walked our guests back up to our gear-up station, de-geared them, and sent them off. It’s time to cool down before the second tour of the day. While it follows the same framework as the first, there are bound to be differences with new guests. Lunch follows after, and usually, I have one of two options; leftovers from the previous night, or something I’ve thrown into my lunch bag that pairs well with hummus. (My favorites are Parmesan Triscuits and carrots.) Then soon after, we embark on our last tour of the day, our grand finale! This is usually where I begin to think of a warm piece of pizza and my couch, but there is still fun to be had. 

All of the tours have commenced, and we have finished our guiding block for the day. I now help with putting away gear and locking up our attractions on-site. At this point, the aforementioned pizza and couch are really calling to me from afar, but I persevere, as I know that my fellow guides are also in the same headspace. Once we finish up, it’s time to end our day, likely with a free. (I did buy it, I promise, Patrick and Krista.) Walking back to my car, I think about how I get to do it all again tomorrow, and even though I’m tired, I’m grateful that my 9-5 is riding down ziplines, and meeting all kinds of people along the way.

It’s a pretty amazing job, zipline guiding. I can understand how it might not be for everyone, especially those of us who are petrified of heights, however, I feel pretty darn lucky to have the job I do. If you want to keep up with us, and our team, or even schedule a tour to experience the thrill yourself, head to our Instagram (@valleyziplineadventures) or click on the ‘Our Activities’ section on the hamburger menu. Thanks for reading, and I hope to guide you along our course sometime soon. Adventure Awaits!