The romantic idea of flying is a cliché classic. Not so much because of the ancient reference to Daedalus and Icarus and the dramatic pursuit of the divine, but because, to put it simply, free-flying is just majestic.
Flying allows you to see everything from a new angle, gives you the feeling of free movement in space and the feeling that you are floating. Until recently, in order to experience flying, you had to either embark on paragliding or rely on dreaming. The big breakthrough of Rollglider, part of the Walltopia Group’s portfolio is that it provides a third option and thus makes free flight accessible and as safe as possible, keeping everything that makes it so desirable.
The concept, like most good concepts, is born in between things. A father from the Walltopia team wanted to show his son the thrill of base jumping but in a safe way. Wingsuit flying, as it is also called, is one of the most dangerous sports. But exactly this free flight was the young boy’s dream. The obsessive idea of safe free-flying pushed the father to a quick sketch, which marks the beginning of the Rollglider – a combination of rollercoaster and zip line, which, unlike its predecessors, gives the feeling of free-flying.
“In amusement parks, you move at high speed, but you are in a seat and your movement is quite limited. Besides, you can rarely actually see things around you. When you ride a Rollglider in the harness instead of in a seat there is nothing around you to stop the movement or the view – the feeling is incomparable,” Maria Mladenova describes the experience who is engaged in the marketing of this product.
There is nothing around you that can stop you from moving or to look around you – the feeling is incomparable.
WHAT DOES THE FACILITY LOOK LIKE?
“Zip lines are always straight because they are made of… rope. With the Rollglider you can make take turns, climbs, and spirals. The experience is extreme, however, you look at it. The speeds are relatively high and the trajectory of the line is at the customer’s choice. He can wander around in a forest, around landmarks, buildings or around other attractions,” adds the operational director of the division Dimitar Zlatev.
Rollglider has been a huge success and has already conquered many territories – from Costa Rica to the Rocky Mountains, Fuji, Tokyo, Peru, Ski Dubai, and Las Vegas and despite many competitors – over 80% of similar products in the world are Rollglider.
Walltopia relies on the principle that beauty is found in diversity so they constantly develop new and different Rollglider experiences – extreme, panoramic, and electric. The extreme Rollglider is fast and exciting, the panoramic one allows a person to see sights from a bird’s eye view, and the electric one allows you to control the speed of your flight.
“Many of our competitors limit the speed for security reasons. We achieve both – we are uncompromising in terms of safety, but we also strive for maximum descent speed,” added Zlatev.
AN UNEXPECTED TURN
Walltopia’s mission is to improve people’s lives by providing equipment for sports-related experiences, as well as those that combine sports with fun and healthy doses of adrenaline. Despite this focus on entertainment, the Rollglider team is looking in another direction. The company’s latest product is an Air transportation system that has the potential to revolutionize travel. Unlike the straight slopes of the ski lifts, Rollglider allows turns and descents that follow the terrain, which makes it more practical not only for mountain terrains but also for urban ones. However, the huge advantage comes from the significantly less energy used compared to all other modes of transportation. And although the Rollglider transport system is still in its infancy – everyone who works on it is convinced of its success and determined to make this idea of transportation a reality for the future.