Adventure Park - Safety Systems

Safety Systems

The safety equipment for each participant basically consists of a harness, a lanyard and a belay system (another option would simply be a net under the trails – relatively expensive and with limited application). Sometimes helmets are also used.

There are distinctions between the following main four belay systems:

• Self belay with carabiners
• Permanent belay with carabiners
• Continuous belay on rail
• Continuous belay on cable (with a hook or a trolley)

The traditional self-belay system basically consists of two carabiners operated by the participants. The participants successively unlock/lock the connection of the carabiners on each platform (zone of risk). Mishandling and removal of both carabineers at the same time will cause complete unlocking. This situation could mean a life-threatening risk and there have been instances of serious accidents and even terminal injuries.

The permanent belay systems significantly reduce the risk of accident. The two carabiners have a "communicating system” which avoids simultaneous opening of the carabiners and the complete unlocking from the cable. A permanent system with integrated rollers can even be found.

The continuous belay systems on rail offer a high level of safety but has limited application – it is mainly on poles with a heavy structure, for relatively short elements and it is expensive (and more common in the USA than in Europe).

With a continuous belay system on cable visitors are continuously connected to the lifeline (cable) from the start to the finish without any possibility of becoming unlocked - which provides the highest safety level. At the start of the trail, the visitors simply connect the lifeline into the belay device (hook or trolley) and they can run the whole trail – in term of safety, no specific further action is required. For the continuous belay system with integrated trolley, the belay device simply rolls along the whole lifeline and greatly eases the passage on zip-lines (no handling required). This last technology is the only system allowing the lifeline to be “out of reach” which has numerous advantages (higher throughput, more impressive elements, more convenience, lower risk of injury)