Zip it!

Adrenaline junkies hitch themselves to a steel cable and go whirring across panoramic views of mountain scenery.

The High Country boasts some of the best autumn views in the Southeast: Every fall, flocks of folks drive up for slow cruises of oohs and ahhs to see the blazing colors and feel the crisp mountain air.

But if it's a bird's-eye view – and a more adrenaline-filled experience – you want, I've got just the place.

Scream Time Zip Line crisscrosses about 100 feet above a former Christmas tree farm that's nine miles outside Boone. Hawk's Nest, Sugar Mountain and the top of Grandfather Mountain perch on the horizon, and a valley of lazy cows and country churches makes a picturesque view below.

Scream Time, which opened this year, offers six zip lines across the valley ranging from 450 feet to 800 feet. One three-man Super Zip line runs 2,000 feet down the length of the valley. Cost is $89 for six runs and an additional $29 for the Super zip. You can also do the Super Zip alone for $47.

“We've had people on the zip line from 15-month-olds – riding tandem with the moms – all the way up to 90 years old,” said Scream Time owner Monie McCoury. “We really didn't know what our demographics would be, but it has turned out to be singles, couples, families … anyone looking for a fun, low-impact adventure. They're all looking for that thrill and sense of flight.”

Seasonal surge expected

Many people envision zip lines running through the jungle, whether it's from “Tarzan” or the Sean Connery movie “Medicine Man.” Canopy tours are a popular tourist attraction in the rainforests of Hawaii, Belize, Costa Rica and some Caribbean islands.

McCoury had never been on a zip line or even seen one in operation when he dreamed of zipping on a cable across the High Country.

“As a kid, we'd use a bar to slide on a cable between two trees,” he said. “When I had my own children, I built a rinky-dink one in the backyard. But here I envisioned an elaborate path with long runs zipping across the sky.”

McCoury teamed with Experience Based Learning, of Rockford, Ill., to design, engineer and inspect the course, as well as train the staff. The course was built last fall and opened in January.

“We were hugely busy this summer, but it slowed down in mid-August when kids went back to school,” he said. “We expect the next surge when leaf season arrives and again in December when people come up for the holidays.”

Scream Time will close January through late March.

Folks who've zipped in Central America or other rainforests can expect a few differences at Scream Time. All but one of the lines run across or down the valley, offering panoramic views of mountain scenery.

At Scream Time, only one line zips through the woods.

Staffers at Scream Time also “brake the line” – slow you down at the end of your flight. In Central America, you do it yourself by grabbing the steel cable with a heavy leather glove.

The 2,000-foot-long Super Zip is especially fun – and worth the extra bucks. The longer run builds more speed and gives you plenty of time to spin around and check out the scenery as you fly down the hill. An added plus: three riders can race at one time.

“It's the total feeling of flight,” McCoury says of zip lining's allure. “You're above the ground, suspended in the air and it sounds like you're on your own private Lear jet. You don't really realize how high up you are because you're focused on getting to the other side. But once you relax, you look around and enjoy it. It's the best view in the High Country.”