Adrenaline junkies, pack your bags. It’s time to take a trip to the United Arab Emirates. In December, the city of Ras Al Khaimah will have a new bragging right — it’ll become home to the world’s longest and highest zip line, which will be located on the nation’s highest peak — Jebel Jais. So if you’d like to fly through the air and live out your wildest superhero dreams, this may just be the zip line for you.
While it’s unclear as of yet exactly how long the zip line will be (the Jebel Jais websites notes that this information is a “closely guarded secret”), given that the project allegedly costs multiple millions of dollars, we can bet that it’ll be quite a lengthy ride. Currently, the longest zip line honor goes to the Monster in Puerto Rico, located in Toro Verde Adventure Park in Orocovis. This ride is 7,234 feet long and about 1,200 feet high.
But Ras Al Khaimah hopes to put even this line to shame, noting that the opening of its own thriller will “propel [the city] into the major leagues of global adventure tourism and cement Jebel Jais as the region’s leading active adventure tourism destination.”
In creating the zip line, the UAE city partnered with Toro Verde, the same folks behind the aforementioned Monster in Puerto Rico. Heralded as the world’s leading zip line operator, Toro Verde will help Ras Al Khaimah break the current world record.
But this isn’t just about thrills and Guinness World Records. Rather, the Jebel Jais team points out, the zip line will use solar energy and locally sourced natural materials, thereby exposing visitors to a largely natural experience (despite the decidedly man-made zip line) in the mountains.
Folks of all ages will be allowed to take a turn on the ride, though eager participants must meet a weight minimum of 35 kilograms (77 pounds), and a height minimum of 120 centimeters (just under 4 feet). The maximum weight the zip line can sustain is 150 kilograms (330 pounds). So if you don’t have any Christmas plans just yet, you may consider making an end-of-year trip to the UAE.
