You can hear the excited and sometimes nervous yells of people floating above the hills of the Santa Ynez Valley. It’s the region’s newest attraction for the adventurous. It's a series of zip lines which send you flying hundreds of feet above the foothills southeast of Buellton.
"It was freakin' awesome!" exclaimed Paul Nava of San Diego.
He just completed a 2600 foot long trip down the third of three zip lines operated by Highline Adventures.
"It was so worth it...every penny. I live for this stuff. I didn't think it was going to be that fast, to be honest," said Nava. "That thing went wicked fast!"
"We've got the biggest and fastest ziplines in California," said Jeff Hartman, who is the owner and operator of Highline Adventures.
It just celebrated its first anniversary. Highline is located on a 1200 acre ranch southeast of Buellton.
"We've got three ziplines which are tandem. We have you go up in our Humvee. It's about a thousand vertical feet to the top, and it takes about an hour and a half to two hours to get through the course," he said.
In addition to the three zip lines, there is a ropes course area, with three levels. You can see people moving from tree to tree using the ropes system. There's beginner, intermediate, and expert levels.
"We wanted to get people outside, and active," said Hartman. "We're a year into it, and it's busy."
The zip lines are the stars of the show. Case Edam and his daughter Bo are from Holland, and decided to make a zip line experience part of their vacation.
"It was great...it was really great," said Case Edam.
"It was so good, I had so much fun," said his daughter.
Hartman said it took a lot of time and work to get the permits, and build the adventure park. He called it a dream come true.
He said while it’s a business, what makes it fun is the excitement visitors experience.
Isaac Hecht of San Diego just got off riding the 2600 foot long final zipline, hitting speeds of more than 50 miles an hour. "It was definitely scary," said the 12 year old. "Nervous, adrenaline coursing through my blood. But, it was fun!"
Highline Adventures operates on a reservation basis. It’s open Thursdays through Sundays this time of year, and will be open seven days a week during the holiday season.
