By Vickie Holt
About twelve years ago or so, Robert Nickell was sitting down with some time to kill. On the coffee table next to him was a book written by Dr. Donald Perry. Dr. Perry is a Biologist famed for studying the rain forest canopy of Costa Rica. The book was called “Life Above the Jungle Floor”, and it not only catalogued several new species, but it also inspired the 1992 film, “Medicine Man”, starring Sean Connery.
Perry’s work appeared on the covers of Scientific American, Smithsonian, and New York Sunday Times magazines, and was featured in Newsweek, Life, Geo, Paris Match, and Quick of Germany, as well as many other publications and documentaries worldwide.
What made Perry’s work so unique was that, in 1991, he was the first biologist to go up into the canopy ecosystem. No one had ever done it before, and because of it, several new species were discovered. Among them was a monkey no one had ever seen because it lives its whole life high in the trees. There were also two new snake species no one had ever seen.
“It was really interesting,” says Nickell. But the part that interested him most was the intricate system of ropes, platforms, and hammocks Perry had created so he could spend prolonged amounts of time in the treetops. Perry had built the world’s first prototype zipline and was the first researcher to ever use one to study the rainforest canopy.
After the research was over, however, he didn’t know what to do with it. The entire infrastructure was still there, with ropes stretched tree to tree. Finally, Perry had decided to create a canopy tour where visitors could pay $45.00 to be manually hoisted into the treetops. They would then then pull themselves along, hand over hand, from platform to platform.
After learning about the tours, Robert Nickell went to Costa Rica, had a go, and thoroughly enjoyed it. He was also privileged to meet Dr. Perry, personally! Robert tells us he was a nice guy.
Being engineer-minded and in the construction business at the time, Robert began thinking that if the ropes were pulled really tight between the trees, and if better pulleys were used, someone could just zip along the lines instead of having to pull hand-over-hand.
Robert decided to present his ideas to a couple of property owners in Costa Rica. He didn’t have to try very hard to convince them. “They thought it was such a great idea that they just went for it. They just did it!” And that’s how Robert Nickell designed the world’s first proper, recreational zipline.
After that first zipline had been built, another thought came to Robert’s mind. “I need to be doing this!” And that was all it took. It wasn’t very long until Robert’s ziplines were being commissioned and built all around the world.
He designed and/or built in China, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, Scotland, Wales, Mexico, and more. He also built the first and biggest (to this date) zipline in Canada. Located on the east coast, North Atlantic Ziplines is huge, with its longest line stretching over two-thousand feet from mountaintop to mountaintop.
Among many other places, he also built a zipline facility for Sir Richard Branson on his privately-owned Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. Three years after it was built, Necker Island got hit by a devastating hurricane. Days later, the billionaire called Robert personally to tell him the only thing left standing on the island was his zipline.
Eventually, Robert wanted to build in the United States. This time, however, he wouldn’t be building for an investor. This time, Robert aimed to own and operate the facility, himself. It would be located in North Carolina, and it would be the first the country had ever seen.
Almost immediately, there were problems. Insurance was impossible to get. Nobody in America had ever heard of ziplines, and from the sound of it, no one wanted anything to do with them.
Building inspectors had no way to inspect them because there was no one qualified. It was suggested that if he could get an engineer to sign off on the project, things could move forward. Even then, it was difficult finding an engineer willing to look at it. No one in America was familiar enough with what a zipline should be to judge the quality of the design or the completed structure.
Finally, however, Robert found an engineer who gave his design the stamp of approval. He was then approved by the county and began to build. After that, he obtained a conditional use permit, but soon hit another roadblock.
The state said that because there was no precedent for this type of facility, and because there were no inspection standards and no regulations, he would have to obtain a million dollars in insurance! Robert called every insurance company there was. Nobody would touch it. He’d been building ziplines all over the world for almost twelve years and there had never been a single incident or accident. Robert was baffled by the resistance. After all, insurance is written every day for amusement parks, water-sport parks, public auto-racing facilities, ski resorts, and all other manner of adventure sport businesses.
He just couldn’t understand the reluctance. So, he opened for a year with no insurance. There are no state regulations for facilities that operate for free, so for the first year, his zipline was a non-commercial experiment. The facility operated on donations; advertising to churches. Their first customers were dozens of field trips and church groups.
After a year of no accidents or incidents, Robert returned to the insurance companies to challenge the denials based on no history or precedent. “Please insure me,” he asked. Finally, in 2006, he was able to get insurance and America’s first zipline officially opened for business. Then it took off and exploded!
The local Fox news station came out and filmed a segment that aired during the evening news. The piece was so popular that calls poured into the station! There were also hundreds of hits on their website, with comments asking for more information. As a result, Fox re-ran the story three times a day for a whole week. Signature Magazine in North Carolina also did a story, and it was the most-hit story on the magazine’s website in five years! Hundreds of people came for ziplining after having seen that article.
These two pieces of media coverage made Robert’s zipline so popular that he went from getting about sixty hits a week on his website to getting about 350,000 hits a month! Apart from speaking to churches during that first year, Robert never advertised that zipline park. He never needed to.
Upon reflection, Robert says he didn’t build in the United States until 2006 because he’d always thought the perception was that ziplines were for jungles and rainforests. He really didn’t think anybody in America would be interested. But as they, “if you build it, they will come,” and boy, was that famous movie quote on the money!
Not only was Robert responsible for the first zipline in America, as well as the first in North Carolina, he was also behind the first ziplines in Tennessee, West Virginia, Missouri, Arkansas, California, and more! Most were built for other investors, but he also built two more for himself; one in Missouri and one in Arkansas. He has since sold the ones in North Carolina and Missouri, but he still owns the one in Arkansas and it’s still doing great!
Robert and his family had moved to Branson, Missouri to build Zipline USA after having sold the first one in North Carolina. At the time, Zipline USA was the biggest in the world. It covered 120 acres of land and had twelve cables; one of which was three quarters of a mile long and 350 feet high – stretching from mountain top to mountain top. It’s still one of the biggest in the world, and still probably the biggest in United States for land area and length of the cables. “With close to five miles of cable,” says Robert, “it’s a heck of big zip line”.
Robert then set his sites on Virginia. Having spent his childhood just across the North Carolina border in Stewart, Robert was often brought to Floyd with his family, many times visiting Mabry Mill. Robert fondly remembers dancing at the Country Store when he was young; before it was the thing to do. He’d come to the jam sessions where folks would just sit around play music. In later years, he’d drive all the way from Winston-Salem to dance and clog in Floyd because there was nowhere to do it back home.
“I’ve always loved this area since I was seven years old,” says Robert. “Even then, in the back of my mind at age seven or eight, I was thinking man I’d love to live up here. It’s beautiful. And you know just how life comes full circle…it just comes back around.”
Robert says that he and his wife, Joanna, looked all over Virginia to find a location that would support a large zip line, but they just couldn’t find the right land in the right place. They looked at Nelson County, Amherst County, Augusta County, and Montgomery County. They even checked Damascus and Abingdon, but multiple issues, including zoning, kept them returning them to Floyd. “We found a good piece of land out near Copper Hill,” says Robert, “but it was at the end of six miles of narrow dirt road. The traffic would have made it a nightmare for customers.”
More and more, the multiple return trips began to convince Robert that his favorite childhood destination was the perfect place for his Virginia-based zipline park. “We spent a lot of money going back and forth, looking for land. And we spent over $1000 at Floyd Motel!” he jokes. “But that’s a good place, we like it a lot.”
They finally settled on the location at 3253 Black Ridge Road SW because it was situated only a mile off the Blue Ridge Parkway. “It just seemed like the right place to do it.” They broke ground earlier this year at the beginning April, and by the end of June, everything was built, complete, and ready to open. Everyone was amazed!
On June 29, 2019, Buffalo Mountain Ziplines – the biggest zipline park in Virginia – opened to the public. Along with Joanna, Robert runs the facility with his nephew, Laith, his son, Joseph, and daughter, Makayla. In addition to finding a home for his zipline park, Robert also found a new home for his family; a little house on Slate Mountain, about two miles from Mabry Mill…and Robert couldn’t be more tickled about it!
A month later during FloydFest 2019, close to eighteen hundred people tried Robert’s temporary set-up that included two, 60-foot high lines that stretched 385 feet, each way. “It’s hard to say no to free ziplines”. With such excellent promotion, Buffalo Mountain got a solid start, and now averages two tours a day during the week and more on weekends.
Robert says that the zipline is already contributing to the community and its economy! Not only does he hire local employees, but people who have come to the area for the first time after seeing the zipline on Facebook have been completely blown away by the beauty of this region. And the folks at Buffalo Mountain Ziplines – especially Robert – are always happy to tell new visitors about the Country Store, Mabry Mill, the hiking trails, the music, the shopping, the art, and everything else there is to do and see Floyd.
At Buffalo Mountain Ziplines, guests can soar through the treetops on cables that reach as high as 150 feet above the forest floor while traversing distances up to 2400 feet! Suitable for adventurers ages three and up, experiences include the Blue Ridge Adventure Tour which features eight ziplines for almost two hours of high-flying fun! 
There is also the Rocky Knob Treetop Tour which can accommodate those with tighter schedules. In just forty-five minutes to an hour, this tour features the park’s first five cables, and is perfect for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and birthday parties!
For ages eight and up, Buffalo Mountain also offers the Full Moon Tour! Even seasoned zipliners may find this nocturnal ride a new experience. This tour features eight cables, as well as a host of Floyd’s night-time wildlife. Afterward, guests can also enjoy making s’mores and roasting marshmallows around a campfire.
A minimum of two guests is required for booking. For more information, details about the tours, booking, pricing, and group discounts, visit www.buffalomountainziplines.com online!
Looking forward, Robert hopes to create more zipline locations throughout Virginia, as most are concentrated in the north; closer to Washington, DC. The plan is for some of these to be commissioned by investors, while others will be owned and operated under Robert’s growing zipline company.
He also wants to further develop Buffalo Mountain Ziplines in Floyd by adding more lines and features. The details are still hush-hush, but when building the ziplines, Robert discovered the site where the last moonshine still in Floyd County was busted, decades ago. He tells us that on the Buffalo Mountain Ziplines property is an area littered with the shrapnel from where authorities used dynamite to destroy the still, as well as the structure that housed it. The foundation of the building remains, as does the moonshiner’s specially-ordered car; now rusting and riddled with bullet holes.
Robert hopes to create a partnership that would result in a Moonshine Zipline Tour that would allow guests a birds eye view of the artifacts while zipping over them, followed by a walk-through tour and commentary.
Because there has never been a moonshine museum erected in Virginia, Robert also envisions creating one as part of the main building at Buffalo Mountain Ziplines. It would be complete with artifacts, old photographs, and lots of information. Robert is very excited about these plans and hopes to make them all a reality next summer. In fact, if you have any artifacts, photos, or information pertaining to the old moonshine era that you would like to donate to this future museum, please contact Robert Nickell by calling 540-200-5234, emailing zip@buffalomountainziplines.com, or just stop by Buffalo Mountain Ziplines!
Stay tuned to further issues of Floyd Virginia Magazine for all the news and updates on this exciting new attraction in Floyd!