Zorbing

Yes. Some people call it sphereing, some call is zorbing, but it's all the same thing!

For harness zorbing two of you are attached facing each other inside the ball, each of you wearing a harness. When you go water zorbing (also known as aqua or hydro), water is added, so you slosh around as you roll and you're not attached.

When you go body zorbing you 'wear' a plastic sphere that covers you from your head to your knees. Inside you've got a harness and hand holds. The balls are open at the top and the bottom, so you can still breathe (conveniently!) and run. Once you've got your body zorb on, it's time to take part in some silliness, with group games such as bubble football, last one standing and bulldog. Just like the playground games of your youth, but with you inside a sphere.

Zorbing comes from the home of extreme sports - New Zealand (where else!). Zorbing was started by David and Andrew Akers in 1994, who came up with the idea of the adrenaline experience inside a inflatable ball on the hills of Rotorua resort. Now it has truly taken off and it has been rolled out ('scuse the pun) to thrill seekers all over the world.

When you go water zorbing, up to 60 litres of water will be thrown into the sphere with you. You won't be attached with a harness whilst you're in there, so you when the zorb starts rolling, you'll slosh around inside the sphere. Obviously, you will be getting properly getting wet. If you don't fancy it, why not try harness zorbing, where you are attached inside the water-free ball?

Inflatable zorbing balls are usually just over 10ft (or just over 3m for metric modernists!) diameter. They're cleverly constructed so they are rigid and strong and won't burst, but give you cushioning when you bounce. They're also transparent-ish so you have an idea of what is happening outside.

The length of your zorbing run will depend how long the track is.They're often between 150 and 250m long and you may get one or two rolls, depending on the zorbing voucher you buy.

We are told zorbs can reach speeds of up to 30mph, but this pretty extreme and would require a fairly steep slope and a hefty shove off the start line! On our zorbing experiences you'll be going fast enough, that's for sure.

This is a good point. You do need to be physically fit to be able to get inside the zorb, as it requires a sort of dive to get into the ball through the small opening. If you're in any doubt, contact us before you buy to see if zorbing is for you.

Zorbing happens outdoors. Typical zorbing runs are on slopes so that the ball rolls, picking up speed as it goes, with an uphill bank at the end, to slow you back down and stop. Many venues have constructed purpose-built zorb tracks, complete with barriers, viewing areas for spectators and even nifty ways of getting the ball back up to the top of the slope again for the next zorbers!