Zip Line accident on our cruise last week in St Kitts. Just a heads up.

[fig414]

Our tablemate's zip line apparatus broke during his ride and he was left dangling 200 feet in the air. He tore his rotator cuff and had lots of bumps and bruises. I have seen that this Sky Safari has canceled their tours. Good riddance. This poor guy (with his wife looking on in horror) had to hand over hand climb back to the top. It took close to an hour. He was an in shape former Air Force guy, Thank God. Any thoughts of us doing a Zip Line excursion are finished after this fiasco.

[Kurbanfan]

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

[klfrodo]

Accidents do happen. Glad he's OK.

I guess I'll never drive a car again. I might have an accident

[mr middy]

Wait a sec - wasnt the Sky Safari the one that claimed to be safer than the others because of how it is constructed?

[G'ma]

Anytime you take part in adventuresome and risky behavior, you risk gettin injured.

 

Your choice.

 

Anyone who truly believes that these type excursions are 100% safe is kidding himself.

 

Why do you think you have to sign a disclaimer to use the facilities.

[mr middy]

Found this on the front page of their website:

 

"Q: Is it safe?

A: The Sky Safari system is fully engineered and certified. Sky Safari is the safest cable ride system in the world because it utilizes a permanent rock anchor system rather than anchoring cables into trees. The cables used are also 3 times the thickness of conventional zip line systems."

[OCruisers]

Our tablemate's zip line apparatus broke during his ride and he was left dangling 200 feet in the air. He tore his rotator cuff and had lots of bumps and bruises. I have seen that this Sky Safari has canceled their tours. Good riddance. This poor guy (with his wife looking on in horror) had to hand over hand climb back to the top. It took close to an hour. He was an in shape former Air Force guy, Thank God. Any thoughts of us doing a Zip Line excursion are finished after this fiasco.

 

Fig .... Thanks for posting this. A good reminder that these things can happen.

 

Wish you'd post this in the Ports of Call - St.Kitts Section as well.

[skylock]

Found this on the front page of their website:

 

"Q: Is it safe?

A: The Sky Safari system is fully engineered and certified. Sky Safari is the safest cable ride system in the world because it utilizes a permanent rock anchor system rather than anchoring cables into trees. The cables used are also 3 times the thickness of conventional zip line systems."

 

Just goes to show you nothing is 100% safe.

 

Heck, getting up and walking to my kitchen is not 100% safe.

 

Just wondering when the OP is going to start building her box to live in. Because if she is going to stop doing anything that is not "safe" she will be living in it.

[theeviltwin]

Having a torn rotator cuff certainly seems better than plummeting from a broken zip line. Nothing is guaranteed in life - other than death & taxes!

 

Was it a pleasant experience for that man - of course not. However, it could have ended a lot more tragically.

[CanWeGoYet?]

That's horrifying. Thank God he was in such good shape. I am sure most of us would not have survived, had we needed to hang from a cable and climb hand over hand for 5 minutes, let alone an hour.

[Scott_F]

I see folks parasailing in Mexico and other countries and it sure looks unsafe. zip lining in jamaica and elsewhere seems like a bad idea.

[Heirloom]

Wow. What a great fun thing to do in a foreign country. Risk your only life on a rope that sometimes breaks !

 

Not that it would be safe if a Carnival excursion supplier, but was this also one of those rogue companies where a brave customer gets so much MORE for their money and pays less ?

 

Hopefully other new adventurers will take note and reconsider what to do instead of wild zip-lining !

[skylock]

Wow. What a great fun thing to do in a foreign country. Risk your only life on a rope that sometimes breaks !

 

Not that it would be safe if a Carnival excursion supplier, but was this also one of those rogue companies where a brave customer gets so much MORE for their money and pays less ?

 

Hopefully other new adventurers will take note and reconsider what to do instead of wild zip-lining !

 

What would you recommend for new adventurers?

 

I saw a lady fall off a concrete sidewalk in Cancun when a big lizard scared her and ended up with a compound fracture. (bone sticking thru the skin) So I guess walking on sidewalks would be out too.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I have heard of injuries on Zip Lines on two of our past cruises - one being a CC member. Nobody way seriously injured... yet it's not a risk I am willing to take to get a thrill. Some people like to jump from planes too - just call me boring, I can live with that (literally)! ;)

 

Tom

[suzinva]

I feel for the guy, that must have been an awful experience. I don't know that I would have been able to do that climb, especially with a torn rotator cuff. But, you know, it is a risky activity. Life is a risky activity when you think about it. Some people have much higher tolerance for risk than others. Me, I'd raft category 5 rapids in a heartbeat but I won't do a zipline or parasail or hang glide, bungee jump or anything like that. People are foolish, though, if they can't look at something and say "what if." Then, based on whether or not they can accept the "what ifs," they should make their decisions.

[BND]

Wow, how about sympathy instead of useless comments? I really doubt that most of you saying "life is risky" and "build a box" etc would feel that way if it happened to you. I've always questioned the safety of zip lining, especially in some locations where safety rules aren't anywhere near what they are in the US. There are some things that are just more risky than others. Yes, there is risk in everything you do, but there is also relativity and some things are just more dangerous that others. Sarcastic answers come across as rude, condescending and are totally unnecessary. OP posted this because it happened close to home. Everyone has to make their own personal decision and it's not for others to act superior because of their own personal decisions.

[skylock]

Wow, how about sympathy instead of useless comments? I really doubt that most of you saying "life is risky" etc would feel that way if it happened to you. I've always questioned the safety of zip lining, especially in some locations where safety rules aren't anywhere near what they are in the US. There are some things that are just more risky than others. Yes, there is risk in everything you do, but there is also relativity and some things are just more dangerous that others. Sarcastic answers come across as rude, condescending and are totally unnecessary. OP posted this because it happened close to home.

 

Speak for yourself. I have had my share of incidents while on vacation. I banged my head open on a rock while white water rafting. I cut my foot BAD while in the water in Cozumel. I broke my leg while water skiing. I broke my arm while running from a cow and going over a cliff. I also had a serious car crash on my way to the cruise port in New Orleans. Still made the cruise but I could hardly stand up by the second day. Hasn't stopped me because if my time is up, I would far rather go doing something I like than laying in a nursing home day after day, week after week wishing I had enjoyed my life while I was able.

 

Zip line broke, guy got injured, Unfortunate, but if I decide to zip line, I will. I just happen to be afraid of heights so it is not for me. One time was enough.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

... I broke my arm while running from a cow and going over a cliff. ...

 

Now THAT'S good stuff --- :D --- though I'm sure you had to be there!

 

Tom

[Cruise-Crazy]

I broke my arm while running from a cow and going over a cliff.

 

Sounds like a YouTube event to me. :D

[Cruise-Crazy]

I was on a cruise a while back where someone broke their leg slamming into the platform on one of the zip lines. I was not there when it happened so I have no idea if the breaks did not work or if she did something wrong.

[BC Todd]

What were you thinking? Getting so close to cows can be very dangerous...you know they would eat us if we gave them the chance...watch out for those killer cows!:eek:

[jetskier]

Wow we must be an accident waiting to happen as we love to

Zipline

Parasail

Scuba Dive (certified)

Sky Dive

Drive rental cars in Mexico (taxi totaled my rental in Dec 2006)

Ride jetskis (we own several plus I raced them for 6 years)

Ride ATVs (we own one plus I raced them for 3 years)

Ride mopeds (we own one)

Ride motorcycles (we own one)

Ride in Ultralight airplanes

Rent a Cessna airplane in Playa del Carmen

 

[dan40]

What would you recommend for new adventurers?

 

I saw a lady fall off a concrete sidewalk in Cancun when a big lizard scared her and ended up with a compound fracture. (bone sticking thru the skin) So I guess walking on sidewalks would be out too.

 

 

That's why a visit to Carlos & Charlie's should come first. After C&C's you crawl, thus eliminating that falling danger!:rolleyes:

[marshhawk]

I've heard of the Running of the Bulls in Spain, but never cow dodging, sound very dangerous. Chick-fil-A must have put the cow up to it.

In regards to the zip line. It's too bad that the company did not have the capability of rescuing this gentleman. It could have been a weakly person unable to get back, and what then? And you know to pull yourself back up with a torn rotater cup must have been hell! My hats off to him. Life in dangerous and it doesn't matter how much you protect yourself, life is still going to kill you in the end. I just choose things that will hurt less when I have a faux pas.

[CarnivalCruzer]

Our tablemate's zip line apparatus broke during his ride and he was left dangling 200 feet in the air. He tore his rotator cuff and had lots of bumps and bruises. I have seen that this Sky Safari has canceled their tours. Good riddance. This poor guy (with his wife looking on in horror) had to hand over hand climb back to the top. It took close to an hour. He was an in shape former Air Force guy, Thank God. Any thoughts of us doing a Zip Line excursion are finished after this fiasco.

 

Personally, it would not stop me from ziplining. Especially without more information. Accidents happen everywhere.

Was he literally dangling there with nothing connected? Holding on by his own strength. Or did one part of the set-up break & he was still connected to the other cables, maybe just the pulley part jammed? Either way I'm sure it was scary - but maybe not as life threatening as it sounds.