From the same place that brought you
bungy jumping and
jet boating comes a new craze--Zorbing. The original zorb, developed in
New Zealand, is not much more than a giant translucent ball. An occupant, known as a "zorbonaut", hops in the zorb, and is then rolled down a hill. Because of the
centrifugal force, the occupant is pressed up against the side of the zorb. The original zorb's specifications are as follows:
-- 3.2
meters in outside
diameter
-- 1.8 meters inner diameter
-- 700 mm of air between the occupant and the ground
-- Weighs around 75 kg
-- 1200 mm x 600 mm x 600 mm (packed)
-- Takes 5 to 7 minutes to inflate
Wait, there's more! The creators of the zorb (Zorb Limited) did not stop with just an original zorb. They have created alternate zorbs designed specifically for snow zorbing, where the occupant is rolled on the snow outside or in an ice rink. The "kinder zorb" is a smaller version of the original zorb, and is designed for small children. Hydro-zorbing allows occupants to be trapped inside a zorb ball with water (don't worry you won't drown)! Double-harness zorbs allow you go to zorbing with a friend at the same time.
Ever since appearing on
MTV's "
Road Rules", zorbing has attracted a lot of attention. Unfortunately, no American
franchise has yet to pick up this new
fad, so you can't go zorbing in the
United States :( Zorbing is available in several
European countries, however. For a full list of zorb locations, visit www.zorb.com. Still not sure what what the hell I'm talking about? Well, it's kind of hard to explain in words, but by visiting www.zorb.com, you can see loads of pictures, and several video clips that should give you a good understanding of just how cool this thing really is!