One zip line closed after man injured

A man was sent to the hospital last week after breaking his tailbone while riding a zip line at Whitefish Mountain Resort.

According to resort spokesman Donnie Clapp, the accident happened June 20 near the Base Lodge on the final zip line of the tour.

The man, who wished to remain unidentified, was close to the maximum weight allowed for the ride at 220-230 pounds. When he launched from the starting platform, he sent a wave through the cable. As he reached the end of the line, a trough in the wave coincided with his arrival and he hit a padded wooden landing platform.

"It was very unfortunate timing," Clapp said.

The resort has closed that particular zip line until the problem is fixed, but the other three zip lines on the tour remain open.

The man was transported by ambulance to North Valley Hospital where WMR president Dan Graves later visited him.

The resort recently reconfigured that particular zip-line span to be shorter by moving the starting platform 50 feet downhill from the former starting point. The idea was to create a slower and more controlled ride. However, the new starting point puts more movement into the cable with heavier weights.

That span is the only one on the tour with the problem, Clapp said, noting that 9,400 zip tours went off without any injuries last summer, and at least six guests in the upper end of the weight limit rode the line without incident the day of the accident.

Still, the resort said it's taking the incident seriously and will put all their resources into fixing the line.

"We're retrofitting it by adding a stabilizer that connects the two lines together to prevent movement in the lines," Clapp said. "We're going to test this thing so many times to make sure we've eliminated the dynamics that made this happen. We'll spend as much time as we need to test it."

Because the resort is working to fix the problem span, two new spans slated to open this month will open later in the summer. Clapp said there's no definite date as to when the entire six-span tour will be available.

The resort has temporarily lowered the tour price to $29 due to the decreased number of spans.

One of the new spans will be 1,700 feet long and 300 feet off the ground. Guests who weigh more than 180 pounds are required to deploy a parachute while riding the attraction. Speeds of up to 50 mph can be reached on some of the lines.