Zorb Ball

Zorbing In America

2008-03-22T08:52:00.000-04:00

Tennessee is home to the first Zorb® in the U.S. — Zorb® Smoky Mountains. What, you ask, is a Zorb? Simply put, a Zorb is a large inflatable plastic ball that measures approximately 11 feet in diameter and weighs almost 200 pounds. But the Zorb’s vital statistics don’t begin to tell the whole story; it’s what you can do inside a Zorb that counts. Passengers — or Zorbonauts — fit inside the ball and experience countless thrills as the Zorb rolls several hundred feet down a hill. A cushion of air inside the ball protects the Zorbonauts throughout the descent. Welcome to the world of extreme sports in Pigeon Forge.

Zorb Smoky Mountains offers two types of Zorb rides, both very different. The Harness Zorb ride calls for the passenger to be strapped inside the Zorb with a harness. The result — very often a feeling of weightlessness as the ball rolls downhill. During the Hydro Zorb ride, Zorbonauts remain unharnessed but share the Zorb with a bucket of water, creating a very slippery ride. Up to three people can ride inside a Zorb ball. There is also a Zorb experience expressly designed for children under age six.

Zorb Smoky Mountains will open in Pigeon Forge in late 2007. Zorb originated in New Zealand, a country known for its extreme sports and outdoor adventures.

What Are Zorb Balls Made From?

2008-03-22T08:46:00.002-04:00

The Zorb Ball is a double hulled sphere, with one ball inside the other with an air layer in between. This acts as a shock absorber for the Zorbanout, leveling out bumps while traveling. It also allows for a much more light-weight Zorb Ball made of flexible plastic, as opposed to the rigid plastic of a hamster ball. Many Zorb's have straps to hold the rider in place, while others leave the rider free to walk the sphere around or be tossed about freely by the rolling motion. A typical spheres is about 9 feet across, with an inner sphere size of about 6 feet, leaving a 30 inch air cushion around the rides. The plastic is approximately 0.8 mm thick. The inner and outer sphere are connected by numerous (often hundreds) of small ropes. Zorb Balls generally have one or two tunnel-like entrances. The plastic used is affected by temperature, so spheres cannot be used when temperatures fall below approximately 30 degrees.

Have You Got The "Zorb " Balls

2008-02-25T09:48:00.001-05:00

So it may cost you anywhere from $20.00-$35.00 to feel like a hamster , but the question is: Do you have the Balls?

Zorbing In Tennessee

2008-02-25T09:34:00.002-05:00

Here is some YouTube footage of the Zorb Ball in action down at the Zorb location in the Volunteer State.

Zorbing In America

2008-02-23T19:31:00.002-05:00

The Zorb Ball Has Made It To America!

To be more precise, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Tucked away in the Great Smoky Mountains is a unique brand of excitement that originated in KiwiLand, it's the new extreme sport of Zorbing.

Zorb Smoky Mountains offers two types of Zorb rides, both very different. The Harness Zorb ride calls for the passenger to be strapped inside the Zorb with a harness. The result — very often a feeling of weightlessness as the Zorb Ball rolls downhill. During the Hydro Zorb ride, Zorbonauts remain unharnessed but share the Zorb with a bucket of water, creating a very slippery ride. Up to three people can ride inside a Zorb ball. There is also a Zorb experience expressly designed for children under age six.

For information: www.zorb.com/smoky/index.html

Will Zorbing Be Bigger Than Bungee Jumping?

2008-02-23T15:41:00.002-05:00

Well, Zorb Ltd. the inventors of the Zorb Ball hopes so.

New Zealand gave the world bungee jumping, which turned its inventor into a multimillionaire. Now, from the country of Kiwis, comes another bizarre but lucrative pastime: Zorbing. Participants, called zorbonauts, roll down hills at speeds of up to 25 mph while strapped inside large transparent Zorb Balls.

The first U.S. Zorbing site is set to open this month in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., a Knoxville-area resort town that brought in more than $750 million from tourists last year. For about $30, Zorb Smoky Mountains visitors will enjoy maximum G-force while tumbling head over heels in a Zorb Ball for a mere 30 seconds. The more adventurous customers can try hydro-Zorbing, in which the rider wears no harness but is cushioned by 4 gallons of water.

The company has eight sites worldwide and aims to franchise up to 10 more in the United States. The next site planned for the Zorb Ball is Las Vegas, Nevada.

"Zorbing will definitely be bigger than bungee jumping," says Courtney Skinn, marketing manager at Zorb USA. "Factors like age won't eliminate people from trying it out."

One thing is for certain, no matter what your age, once inside the Zorb Ball things will start rolling.

Zorb Ball Franchise

2008-02-22T09:44:00.002-05:00

Would you like to own your own Zorbing franchise? Both Zorb Limited and SphereMania are offering franchise opporitunities. Zorb Limited says that they are interested in “working with landowners, investors, and developers to build quality zorb sites.” It could be a very cool business opportunity – just keep in mind that Zorb Limited expects the total investment will be roughly $1.5 to $2 million per park.
So if the thought of watching laughing people rolling down hills in Zorb Balls entertains you or if you have a million or two laying around, then this is for you.

Are You Ready To Zorb?

2008-02-22T09:37:00.002-05:00

While getting your own Zorb Ball may be a little difficult (unless you are an authorized site), there are a couple locations you can visit to hop in the ol' Zorb Ball and get rollin. There are currently two parks in the U.S. where you can get your Zorb on. One, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is affiliated with Zorb Limited and scheduled to open this year. The other in Brighton, Michigan, is affiliated with SphereMania. Both companies have parks around the globe, so you can schedule a zorb experience into your next vacation. Prices vary from park to park, but plan on spending around $20 per ride in the U.S.

Neither one of these companies sells their equipment to the general public, for safety reasons. However, other companies have created their own version of the Zorb Ball and are cashing in on it – you just need come up with $2,000 to $3,000 to buy one. If you do decide to splurge on your own life-sized hamster ball, be safe and keep your eye on the... well, just try not to puke.

Zorb In America

2008-02-19T15:14:00.001-05:00

Well, in the Great Smoky Mountains, to be exact. Which is only 30 miles southeast of Knoxville Tennessee. The Smoky Mountains Zorb location is planned to open sometime in 2008.

If you want to try and contact Zorb’s Smoky Mountain location try the following information:

Zorb Smoky Mountains
203 Sugar Hollow Road
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
smoky@zorb.com
1.865.428.2422

Have A Ball In A Zorb!

2008-02-19T15:09:00.002-05:00

If you have ever wished you could walk on water or effortlessly cartwheel down a mountain range, the Zorb will fulfill your dreams. This latest extreme sport, which already has a cult following in New Zealand, will arrive in the United States this summer.

A Zorb is a huge round clear polyvinyl chloride inflatable ball that looks much like a giant soap bubble. It weighs 200 pounds and spans 10.5 feet in diameter. It has two skins--one inside the other. A person stands inside the smaller skin, or what would be the yoke of an egg, and is suspended by a cushion of air 2 feet off the ground.

“They put you inside the ball and tell you to run like a hamster to pick up some momentum,” said Andrew Peter Spencer, a Zorb aficionado.

After a Zorb is launched down a hill, it can hit speeds of up to 31 mph. Securely cocooned inside the Zorb, the person tumbles, flips and slides back and forth like a rag doll during the three-minute ride.

“All of a sudden you’re all over the place doing cartwheels and getting completely disoriented. It’s awesome,” said Spencer, a 21-year-old Vermont native who currently studies at Massey Palmerston North University in New Zealand.

Zorbing is a rite of passage for people in New Zealand, said Spencer, who enjoys other extreme sports like sprint car racing and bungee jumping. “You have to be a bit of a risk taker to go Zorbing. It gives you bragging rights.”

So far no one has died from Zorbing, according to Lizzie Dean, a spokeswoman for Zorb Ltd., which makes the human-size hamster balls. The company is based in New Zealand but has franchises in more than a dozen countries, including Argentina and Hungary.

“It’s not a dangerous sport,” Dean said. “It’s a lot of fun. You laugh all the way down the hill, and you keep laughing afterward.” She added, “We've had over 100,000 Zorbonauts and not a single one has even vomited inside the Zorb.”

World's Longest Zorb Roll

2008-02-19T15:06:00.001-05:00

So what was the longest Zorb Ball roll in the world?

On November 09, 2006 in New Zealand Steve Camp rolled down a hill in a Zorb.

His roll covered a dizzying 570 meters, giving him the honor of the longest Zorb Ball roll ever.

Zorb: Making You Feel Like A Hamster

2008-02-09T18:42:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wanted to know what your hamster friend felt like as he was running around in a little plastic ball? Well now you can! It's called a Zorb, and it is the latest craze sweeping the planet.

Basically, Zorb is a huge round clear polyvinyl chloride inflatable ball that looks much like a giant soap bubble. It weighs 200 pounds and spans 10.5 feet in diameter. It has two skins--one inside the other. A person stands inside the smaller skin, or what would be the yoke of an egg, and is suspended by a cushion of air 2 feet off the ground.

Once you are rolling down a hill, you can reach speeds of up 31 mph. Alternatively, a Zorbonaut can opt for “hydro-Zorbing,” which involves adding a bucket of water into the ball and letting it slosh around as the Zorb revolves. Although a water Zorb is often compared to a zealous washing machine, it only rotates once every 32 feet.

Zorb in Hollywood

2008-02-09T18:39:00.000-05:00

Jackie Chan has a ride in a Zorb in the movie Operation Condor.

Zorb Riding

2008-02-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

A video on the art of zorbing, try not to vomit.

What is Zorb?

2008-02-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

Zorb balls have two transparent skins which are connected together by wires and a tunnel by which the riders enter the ball. Air is inflated between the skins which forms a cushion to protect the riders from injury.

Like Bungee jumping, Zorb was started in New Zealand in 1995 by Andrew Akers and Dwane van der Sluis who called the balls ‘Zorbs’. Zorbing went commercial in New Zealand where it was developed into 3 forms:

Zorbing with water involves water being added inside the ball along with single or multiple participants. The riders then run or slide inside the ball as it rolls downhill.
Riders can also be harnessed inside a ball without water, and then they are rotated with the ball as it roll downhill.
Zorbing can also be done on water where the balls float on water and the riders have to walk inside to move the balls.

Apart from the original company (Zorb New Zealand), a number of other products for Zorbing have started around the world, such as ‘Spheremania’, ‘Downhill Revolution’ and ‘Orb 360’ and many companies now offer Zorbing balls for sale.

Zorbing entered the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in 2001 where it was defined as: “a sport in which a participant is secured inside an inner capsule in a large, transparent ball which is then rolled along the ground or down hills”.

The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes 2 Zorbing records:

Longest zorbing ride held by Steve Camp who travelled 12,850 meters (7.984 miles) in 2006.

Fastest zorbing ride held by Keith Kolver who reached a speed of 52 km per hour (32.3 miles per hour) in 2006.

Zorbing has been shown in episodes of Wildboyz, Celebrity Fit Club, Road Rules, The Amazing Race, Globe Trekker, and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! as well as the Jackie Chan film Armour of God II: Operation Condor. It has even been presented in animation for the telefilm Race Across Canada. One of the contestants on an episode of Jeopardy! mentioned zorbing as a pastime. Zorbing is also featured in a commercial for the Toyota Sequoia, a large SUV. The "Zorb" logo can be clearly seen in the commercial.