Zorbing. Is there any stopping it?

What is it about people from New Zealand? First, they come up with bungee-jumping, now they are getting in plastic bubbles and rolling down hills. Different names it may be called – zorbing, sphereing or globe-riding – but the craze of tumbling around in a plastic ball like a hamster, is undoubtedly on a roll.

In July, HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, no less, were treated to a display of zorbing at the launch of ‘YOU London’ – a network of adventure, military and emergency youth organizations, which aims to recruit adult volunteers to enable young people to join and share resources. HRH Prince Charles commented on the benefits of outdoor activities but thought he’d leave zorbing to a different generation.  Oxford band Stornoway recently released a track entitled zorbing written before they actually did it.

And, BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, who is more used to kicking balls than rolling in them, joined his wife Danielle Buxand inside a plastic ball for a new BBC TV series of Northern Exposure, where the couple try different adventures around Northern Ireland.  Gary Lineker said: ‘I have found myself doing things I never imagined I would, like rolling down a hill in a giant bubble.’

Although giant hamster balls had been tried before, New Zealanders Dwane van der Sluis and Andrew Akers are generally credited with getting the ball rolling when they invented the ‘Zorb’ in 1994. Zorbing bounced into the Oxford English dictionary in 2001 and those who take part in the activity are often referred to as ‘zorbanauts’.
Zorbing or sphereing, if you prefer, can be done on land or water – as seen in the video. Wet zorbing is as close as most people are likely to get to walking on water. Those that have tried the wet version say it gives you more control, although they liken it to ‘being inside a washing machine’.  Water – often soapy water – is invariably put into the ball to make standing up harder.

In dry zorbing, unlike wet zorbing, you are strapped into the plastic ball and tumble down a hill – believe it or not – those that try it love it.

A US company called Fishpipe is taking the concept one stage further, they describe their tubular barrel ride as a cross between ‘body surfing, washing your clothes, going for a jog and having a shower’. The Fishpipe is an inflatable barrel, shaped like a rugby ball, that is strapped between two large metal wheels on a frame.

FACT FILE:
New Zealander Steve Camp holds the record for the Greatest Distance Zorbing when he travelled 570m (1,870 ft 0.9in) in a single roll in Paengaroa. The record was previously held by Rich Eley from the UK at 323m.

Another New Zealander, Keith Kolver holds the record for the fastest ride , reaching a top speed of 52 kilometres per hour, set the day after Steve Camp’s record.

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