Aerial adventure courses including zip lines, ropes courses, challenge courses, aerial trekking courses and canopy tours are among the fastest growing segments of the commercial recreational industry.

These activities include functional, operational and patron participation requirements that are now represented in a new ASTM International standard, ASTM F2959, Practice for Special Requirements for Aerial Adventure Courses.

The new standard was developed by Subcommittee F24.60 on Special Rides/Attractions, part of ASTM International Committee F24 on Amusement Rides and Devices.

"These activities are one of the fastest growing segments in the commercial recreational industry," said Mike Teske, director of technical services for Skyline Eco-Adventures and chairman of the task group that developed ASTM F2959.

Teske notes that the first commercial zip line in the world was installed in Maui, Hawaii, in 2002, and there are now an estimated 400 zip line installations in North America alone.

The purpose of ASTM F2959 is to provide designers, manufacturers, owners/operators and auditors with criteria and references for use in the design, manufacture, installation, operation, maintenance, auditing and major modification of aerial adventure courses.

Teske notes that ASTM F2959 will be beneficial to several groups involved with aerial adventure courses, and said he hopes the standard will promote safety and uniformity of processes while also allowing for creativity in the evolving aerial adventure industry.

"The success of the F2959 effort demonstrates how Committee F24 can quickly react to the need for detailed safety guidance when a new product enters the amusement industry market and is rapidly adopted by worldwide facilities," says James Seay, F24 chairman and president of US-based Premier Rides.

"The highly focused cooperative effort to create safety standards is very impressive. Stakeholders from regulators to manufacturers to operators to consumers deserve great credit for their voluntary efforts."