GREENSBORO, NC -- It is your biggest fear when you get on a zipline: something will go wrong and you will fall. But you don't hear of accidents all the time and you know people who have done a zipline and everything was fine.
A 10-year-old Wilmington girl died while ziplining at a YMCA camp in Alleghany county at Camp Cheerio. Camp Cheerio is owned by the High Point YMCA. The camp is about 90 miles Northwest of Greensboro.
2WTK talked extensively with Dave Ozmore, the Camp Cheerio Director to find out what the setup of the zipline was and how this deadly accident could have happened.
Most ziplines run parallel to each other. The run the girl was on was a double line in that they start together and then one veers off making a V. The pulley is attached to the zipline, the tether is attached and hangs down away from the line and hooks to the harness. But in this instance the director says the tether was up and over both lines and then hanging down. So as the child was going down the zipline, the tether was being tattered by the zipline cable and and there was pressure from being pulled between 2 ziplines. The tether broke and the child fell.
The tether should never be over the zipline cable. Now investigators are trying to figure out how that happened. The Alleghany sheriff's office was called in, a third party investigator and Interquest. Interquest is the company Camp Cheerio used to set-up, inspect and train the guides.
It's important to note, the state does not inspect ziplines. Just like they don't inspect roller skating rinks, wave pools, or rock wall experiences. But that doesn't mean there aren't standards and guidelines for the experiences.
Ozmore says the camp's equipment was inspected in spring of this year. 2WTK has asked for the paperwork.
According to Ozmore, the double line has been in operation for about 4 years but the camp has had other ziplines for the last 15 years.
The Association For Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) is the body that sets the standards for zipline courses. James Borishade of ACCT says Innerquest has been associated with ACCT since the late 90's and has been in good standing with the governing body. Innerquest passes accredidation once every three years.
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