Nov 10 2007

Go Zorbing

Zorbing

For an adventure ride that puts a whole new spin on things and is like nothing you’ve every experienced before, you have to give Zorbing a go.

Zorbing (also known as sphereing) is the sport of rolling down a hill at speed inside a giant inflatable ball. The Zorb is an 11 foot (3.5 metre) high inflatable sphere which you ride inside (a person zorbing is called a zorbonaut). Two feet of air protect you from the ground as you Zorb down the hill at speeds of up to 50 kilometres (31 miles) per hour.

There are two types of zorb rides: harness and hydro. In the harness ride you are securely harnessed inside the Zorb for a wild ride down the hill. Once you start rolling down the hill, you feel a strange sensation of weightlessness and watch the ground and sky go spinning past. The Hydro ride has no harness and water is thrown in so that you (and a friend or two) can slip, slide and spin inside the Zorb all the way down the hill. In winter, warm water is used for a lovely spa-type experience. Its like a cross between a waterside and a rollercoaster.

Zorbing was invented in New Zealand in the early 1990s and first set up in Rotorua on New Zealand’s North Island. Since then Zorb has rolled into England, the mountains of Norway, the middle of Sweden, the Gold Coast in Australia, the alpine hills of Switzerland, to China the USA (Smoky Mountains) and Argentina.

So if your after a crazy, adrenaline-filled adventure ride, try the Zorb experience.

4 responses so far

4 Comments to “Go Zorbing”

  1. Joyce Ottingeron 11 Feb 2008 at 7:54 pm

    I am trying to find a place in the eastern USA to go zorbing in. I have a teen age son and think it would be great thing to experience this summer. Where can we go to zorb?

  2. Experienceon 12 Feb 2008 at 4:21 pm

    Joyce, thanks for the question. I don’t live in the USA so I’m not sure about that. Maybe some other readers in the US can help answer Joyce’s question. If you have been zorbing in the US we would love to hear about your experience.

  3. Desireeon 01 May 2008 at 8:10 pm

    I found a website for zorbing in the Smoky Mountains. Hope it helps. http://www.zorb.com/smoky/

  4. crissyon 16 May 2008 at 6:14 pm

    check out booth creek resorts. they have several ski resorts in the east and have zorbing