Friday, February 18, 2011

Navitat Canopy Adventures to offer zip line tour in Wrightwood

NAVITAT CANOPY ADVENTURES is bringing a world-class zip line canopy tour to Southern California.Located high in the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains, just 90 minutes northeast of Los Angeles near the popular Mountain High winter resort, NAVITAT is part exhilarating zip line tour and part educational rainforest-style canopy excursion. Tours currently are scheduled to begin in July.

“We are so pleased to be coming to Wrightwood with this great new outdoor adventure,” said Ken Stamps, CEO and Managing Partner of NAVITAT CANOPY ADVENTURES, which also operates a tour in the mountains of western North Carolina.“Our tour promises to be a thrilling and enlightening experience, one that will give our guests a new perspective on their natural surroundings and on themselves too.”

The course site is situated on a portion of the Wrightwood Guest Ranch property, a 300-acre retreat located between the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest. Richard Hallett is property owner and a partner in the NAVITAT Wrightwood tour.Bonsai Design Inc., the leading canopy tour installer in the country, is building the course, which will feature artfully constructed platforms nestled in the trees and connected by a series of suspended sky-bridges, zip lines, trails and rappels. The design is entirely tree-based and uses no poles or other structures to support the platforms and course features. Upon completion, the course will vary in height from 15 feet to more than 250 feet off the ground, and zip lines will range from 200 feet to 1,500 feet in length.

Bonsai crews will build the tour in and around the deepest of three canyons on the property, which has elevations up to 7,400 feet and more than 1,200 feet of vertical drop. The site is home to towering white fir, Ponderosa, Jeffrey and sugar pine, and abundant wildlife, including black bear, mule deer, bobcat, mountain lion and a great variety of birds.

“The Wrightwood site is amazing -- awesome trees, expansive long-range views of the mountains, great elevation,” said John Walker, NAVITAT partner and president of Bonsai Design Inc. “In designing the course, we’re very mindful of how special this place is and are taking great care not only to highlight the land’s natural beauty, but also to protect it.”

Environmental stewardship is one of NAVITAT’s core values. The company is completing an inventory of the site’s natural resources and will establish a management plan for non-native invasive species. Designers and builders are using sustainable practices and products in the construction of the course and Welcome Center, where guests can learn about the natural and cultural history of the area.

“From the moment they arrive, our guests can expect a great experience -- whether they’re looking for that adrenaline rush or just wanting to take in nature in a whole new way,” said Evan Krogh, NAVITAT Partner and Wrightwood Site Manager.

When fully operational, NAVITAT plans to employ between 60 and 70 staff members at its Wrightwood tour.

The original NAVITAT tour is located near Asheville, N.C., in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. USA TODAY called it “One of 10 Great Ziplines in the US” in 2010.NAVITAT Canopy Adventures is a member of the Association for Challenge Course Technologies (ACCT), which is accredited by the American National Standards Institute. The company adheres to and exceeds all ACCT standards for construction, operations and training.

Visit www.navitat.com to learn more.

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