Jebel Jais Flight measures 2.83km, officially certified by Guinness World Records prior to Thursday launch
Ras Al Khaimah has achieved a Guinness World Record with its latest adventure tourism product – Jebel Jais Flight: The World’s Longest Zipline.
The official certification was handed over to Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, by Hoda Khachab, the official adjudicator from Guinness World Records.
Al Qasimi was the first to try the new zipline following the official certification by Guinness World Records, a statement said.
The world’s longest zipline, measuring 2.83km and spanning the chasm of Jebel Jais, the UAE’s largest mountain peak at over 1,680 metres above sea level, opened to the public on Thursday.
The Ras Al Khaimah zipline is operated by Toroverde Ras Al Khaimah, the statement added.
“This is a great achievement for Ras Al Khaimah’s international tourism ambitions,” said Haitham Mattar, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority.
“We are now receiving our largest-ever number of visitor arrivals and are confident that Jebel Jais Flight: the world’s longest zipline, will earn Ras Al Khaimah considerable recognition on the local, regional and global stage and propel the destination into the major leagues of global adventure tourism.
"The Jebel Jais Flight will become Ras Al Khaimah’s flagship tourism product and will cement Jebel Jais as the adventure tourism hub of the Middle East. We are expecting to see an increasing number of adventure tourists coming from across the globe to try this bucket list experience.”
Delivery of the zipline, which features a steel cable weighing more than six tonnes and is suspended 1,680 metres above sea level, has been in the planning phase for over a year.
Thrill-seekers will be suspended above the mountain as they prepare to take the flight headfirst in a ‘superman’ style position. The experience will see participants fitted with a special suit and equipment for the adventure, with the longest flight itself taking approximately 2-3 minutes.
Once completed, guests will finish on a suspended landing platform where they will be transferred to a second line, measuring in at 1km, to complete their journey back to the ground.
"We anticipate the attraction accommodating a rider every five minutes on the two zip lines, equating to approximately 200 people per day, and around 100,000 per year,” said Jorge Jorge, CEO of Toro Verde RAK.
“We also believe given its location in Jebel Jais, which is traditionally 10 degrees cooler than average UAE temperatures, we can operate during the summer months,” he added.
The launch of the zipline is part of Ras Al Khaimah’s campaign to transform the emirate into the region’s adventure and activity tourism hub.
With the emirate benefitting from diverse landscape – including the Hajar Mountains and Jebel Jais – it has already built a following among walkers, hikers and cyclists with the campaign taking a leap forward in 2016 with the opening of the Jebel Jais Via Ferrata (Iron Path), hiking, climbing and ziplining product.
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