Abstract: A tower may support a horizontal track and a vertical climbing wall therebelow. A trolley, movable along the track, may be selectively driven toward and away from the tower by belay lines, line and capstan, positive drive, or some combination. Belay lines reeved over pulleys on the trolley may be taken up and paid out independently from the trolley, while fixed or moving. A rider may climb, be lifted, or both to near the intersection of the tower and track, from there to fall or jump into a controllable trajectory such as swinging or simulating a parachute landing. Swinging may be rapidly attenuated almost entirely by “bumps,” lifting a rider to remove momentum and kinetic energy as a rider moves toward a pivot point overhead. Control may be simplified based on sensing and using timing past bottom dead center (BDC).

Abstract: A tower may support a horizontal track and a vertical climbing wall therebelow. A trolley, movable along the track, may be selectively driven toward and away from the tower by belay lines, line and capstan, positive drive, or some combination. Belay lines reeved over pulleys on the trolley may be taken up and paid out independently from the trolley, while fixed or moving. A rider may climb, be lifted, or both to near the intersection of the tower and track, from there to fall or jump into a controllable trajectory such as swinging or simulating a parachute landing. Swinging may be rapidly attenuated almost entirely by “bumps,” lifting a rider to remove momentum and kinetic energy as a rider moves toward a pivot point overhead. Control may be simplified based on sensing and using timing past bottom dead center (BDC).

Abstract: A recreational ride employs a suspended tensioned static cable that allows the user to gravitationally ride, harnessed to a rolling trolley attached to the cable, from an upper platform to a lower platform. The trolley includes a brake assembly that is attached to a brake arm through a bolted connection, which greatly reduces the cost and complexity of the brake assembly and reduces the chances of operator error when mounting the trolley on the cable. The brake assembly includes two adjacent, separate, aligned brake pads fabricated of different materials, a forward pad being a non-metallic material and a rearward pad being a metallic material. A wheel assembly portion of the trolley includes a sheave plate, bolted to a brake arm, that is permitted to pivot about its point of attachment to the brake arm to thereby eliminate fatigue forces on the wheel assembly.