A helicopter brings materials to the construction site of Branson Zipline and Canopy Tour, located north of Branson. The zip-line course is expected to be operational in April.
Branson Zipline starts with lofty expectations
Jennifer Muzinic
Posted online
Guy Mace made a point last week to be on the construction site of his newest investment. The morning of Jan. 27, a helicopter was carrying 80-foot wooden poles, each weighing more than 5,000 pounds, before lowering them 15 feet into the ground.
“It was really something to see. I was impressed,” said Mace, a retired Springfield businessman who’s dabbling in investments, including Küat bike racks in Springfield and housing developments in Brazil.
His latest is Branson Zipline and Canopy Tour, a zip-line course covering more than a mile of wooded terrain located seven miles north of Branson on U.S. Highway 65. Mace, who sold a minority interest in Turblex Inc. to Siemens in fall 2007, and his son-in-law, Darrell Henley, led a small group of investors that saw opportunity in Branson Zipline, he said.
Beginning in spring, the company plans to offer tree-line tours by way of a series of zip lines, platforms and suspension bridges. Branson Zipline already is booking tours for May 1, Henley said, but he expects the business would be operational by April.
Despite a drop in Branson tourism – the city’s 1 percent tourism tax, which covers hotels restaurants and ticketed attractions, declined 8.3 percent in 2009 –- Mace, Henley and General Manager Emma Hamilton feel confident that the tours will sell quickly.
“With most zip lines, tours are booked months in advance. Some are sold out three months in advance,” said Hamilton, the only current employee.
Part of the confidence comes from the green light given by Juneau, Alaska-based Zipstart Adventure Business Consultants. Henley said the company, which operates its own zip line course, Alaska Zipline Adventures, was hired to evaluate the Branson market before Branson Zipline purchased its 33-acre site.
“In Juneau, the average customer’s age is, I think, 55. The average demographic for a Branson visitor is 52,” said Henley, who is president of Springfield-based YTen Business Solutions Inc., which owns Vacations Made Easy and Bransonshows.com, according to Missouri Secretary of State filings.
Henley hopes families will be the company’s biggest customers, noting it was his 11-year-old son who introduced him to a zip line course five years ago.
“It’s really about getting outdoors and really getting to experience nature. It’s something people of all ages can do,” Hamilton said.
Of the two tours Branson Zipline will offer, the 2 1/2 hour, $99.99 canopy tour is the family and senior friendly option, Mace said. A $39.99-Blue Streak Fast Line will be faster paced and geared toward adventurists.
“It’s the longest zip line in the park,” Mace said. “That’s for the 20- and 30-somethings that want a thrill ride.”
Visitors will check in at the welcome center, 2339 U.S. Highway 65 in Walnut Shade, and take a tram to the highest point of the property. Tour guides certified by the Association for Challenge Course Technology will lead customers over rocky bluffs and a wet-weather spring, and they will point out the plant life and trees native to the Ozarks landscape, Hamilton said. The course will not operate during the months of January and February.
The group has brought in a forester to inventory the property, develop a long-term nature care plan and develop an educational program to highlight the ecology, she said. The consultant also is making recommendations to minimize the construction’s effect on the property, Mace said.
Todd, N.C.-based Challenge Towers, a division of Blue Ridge Learning Centers Inc., is installing the zip line courses – mostly above the tree line – while Branson-based Mesa Engineering and Stalzer Engineering are completing site work on the ground, Henley said.
“In the construction, (our) cardinal rule is be very, very careful with the woods,” Mace said.
Depending on the reception in Branson, Henley said there are plans to expand into other markets in two to three years. A more immediate goal is putting together a software program that will track course maintenance, employee certification and inspections.
“When the software system is in place … that’s when we plan to expand,” Henley said.[[In-content Ad]]
April 7 was the official opening day for Mexican-Italian fusion restaurant Show Me Chuy after a soft launch that started March 31; marketing agency AdZen debuted; and the Almighty Sando Shop opened a brick-and-mortar space.
