My dad built one for us when we were kids. Started from a tree-house 20 feet up and descended a gentle slope to stop about 150 feet away. It was basically a circular wooden seat fastened to a pulley. Lessons we learned:
* The wire tension REALLY influences speed.
* Jumping onto the slide as you set off is great fun (think: a highly practical introduction to simple harmonic resonance)
* A row of old tyres on the line at the end "sort of" works but is quite exciting at high speed.
* Dogs find chasing people on it strangely fascinating.
* Be wary of long hair flapping around close to the pulley wheel.
You can now get proper arrestor devices to put on the cable at the end which will bring any rider to a controlled stop. This is the approach I would go for if it were my slide.
If you're planning to put other people (besides yourself / your kids) on it - well, I wouldn't bother. I imagine the hoops that places like Go Ape have to jump through to satisfy their public liability insurance make it far too much hassle to be worthwhile.
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zip lines 
zip lines 
