ZORB - Coming to the USA - Knoxville
Zorb is coming to Knoxville Tennessee! Well, not exactly… Zorb is coming to the Smoky Mountains which is only 30 miles southeast of Knoxville Tennessee. The Smoky Mountains location is planned to open sometime in 2007
What is a Zorb and what is Zorbing? I can’t think of a better resource than Wikipedia’s article on Zorbing to explain the answer.
Zorbing is a recreational activity developed in the 1980s that consists of rolling downhill inside of a usually white, double-hulled sphere called a zorbus, made from PVC.
Zorbing originated in New Zealand as the brainchild of Dwane van der Sluis and Andrew Akers. In 1967 they conceived the idea of the spheres in Rotorua, New Zealand. The inside of the original zorbo has 9 straps to keep the rider in place. Variations include strapless hydro zorbos where water is added for an experience somewhat like a water chute. The latter variation can be ridden with two or three other zorbonauts.
For those of you who didn’t follow that explanation it is “a person in the middle of this big ball. They’ve got about 700 mm of air between them and the ground - that’s about 2 feet for you metrically challenged folks - and this air cushion keeps em safe as they hurtle down the side of a hill at speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour.”
It looks like a blast and I am already planning a trip down for a ride after it opens. I’ll pay someone $10 if they can convince Frank Murphy and Michael Silence to ride down a hill in a Zorb together and $15 if they can get Randy Neal in there for a three person Hydro Zorb ride.
If you want to try and contact Zorb’s Smoky Mountain location try the following information:
Zorb Smoky Mountains
203 Sugar Hollow Road
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
smoky@zorb.com
1.865.428.2422
In my misspent Tennessee youth, we would often roll down the hill in our backyard in cardboard barrels that were manufactured outside Kingsport. In one of the more memorable episodes from those days, our alcoholic neighbor weaved outside and said that the activity looked so fun that he’d like to try it.
Well, faster that you can play “Roll out the Barrel,” we helped him crawl inside and sent him down the hill with a mighty push. He flew down the hill, to our enormous delight, and literally had to crawl back to his house. Our parents chewed us out for doing that, but, boy, was it fun.
I’m in! We should video it for posterity!
Zorb America…
Well ZORB the New Zealand idea of fun - rolling down a hill inside of a large rubber ball with some water in the bottom - is coming to America and the first stop it East TN. It seems that Zorb is coming to Pigeon Forge (Gateway to Gatlinburg) and will …
Thanks for the great comments here! We have had a few delays in getting open. We have made a few changes to make it bigger and better. You can check our website at zorb.com for updates. Click on videos and you can see Zorb in action. As soon as we get to a point in construction where we feel we can put a definite opening date it will be posted.
We will see you soon!
Winston
Project Assistant
Zorb Smoky Mountains
Thanks for the update Winston. My kids asked for a vacation to Zrob USA this summer once they saw it was being built, so we’ve planned one. please tell me it will be done before the end of July!!!
Dave
All I want to know is where I can get one.
Is this thing up and running yet? I really want to give it a shot! And how much does this cost?
All I know is, there was a comercial on TV and my kids went crazy. They couldnt figure out what a person was doing inside the big ball! My fiance and I were super impressed, and I wondered if it was really something you could do, or if they had just made this up for the comercial. So, I researched it, and I will be there this summer to try it out. By the way, can you perchase your own? I have a lot of land, and could really make use of this.
OMG…i’ve been wanting to do this for a long time…
my mom and i saw a commercial about it and instantly was amazed!!
this makes me so excited!!!
There is places popping up all over New England doing the same thing.
Do you have any afilliation with them? Are you going to do the same sports stuff they are, with the “Gladiator Ball” arenas?
I think this is going to be a new national past time. Are there more places close to me that ZorbNewEngland or SphereUSA or Zorb Ltd are located?
i would like to learn more about the franchise side of Zorb… plz contact me at adhw2004@aol.com or call me at 662 321 3093
I’ve done hydro-Zorbing in NZ, and I have to say it’s what I image the inside of a washing machine to be like.
I’ve been waiting for this place to open FOR MONTHS! Can’t wait to finally go.