New Zipline Flies High Over Las Vegas Streets

Oct. 13, 2010— -- Las Vegas has long been known for its big signs and flashing lights. Now visitors will have a new way to view them up close: speeding down a zipline high above the street.

A company best known for ziplines that run through rain forests and protected parks is now installing Sin City's latest thrill ride, an 800-foot line that will cut down historic Fremont Street.

The Fremont Street Flightline promises to send tourists flying over the street at up to 35 mph, bringing them close to the flashing lights that have defined the city.

Fremont Street is home to some of the oldest and most-historic casinos in Las Vegas. It was the location of the state's first telephone, the city's first hotel, first paved street, first traffic light and first elevator. Iconic casinos, such as the Golden Nugget and Horseshoe, call it home. The flashing lights have earned the block the nickname Glitter Gultch.

But in the past few decades, Fremont Street has been overshadowed by the newer, glitzier Strip. So to try to bring tourists back, the casinos along the street, in December 1995, opened the Fremont Street Experience, a five-block pedestrian mall covered with a giant canopy with 12 million LED lights that put on an hourly show each night. It's the largest video screen in the world.

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Starting Friday, tourists can see the show on the new zipline, which starts outside and then slides under the canopy.

"Flying under the lights -- with or without LCD -- it's going to be an amazing experience," said Ian Green, one of the owners of Greenheart Conservation Company, the folks behind the zipline.