Zorb in battle for safety reputation

by Julie Taylor julie.taylor@dailypost.co.nz
Zorb New Zealand Ltd is fighting a battle to ensure that accidents like that which broke a reporter's back in the United States will not affect the reputation of official Zorb sites such as Rotorua.

Chief executive Craig Horrocks told the Daily Post the firm had been battling to protect its brand name for some time before Sun Journal reporter Rebekah Metzler broke her back and injured a kidney in an inflatable sphere that hit a post at a west-central Maine ski resort.

Mr Horrocks said it was not an authentic Zorb, like those at the Rotorua Agrodome site, which are built from tough TPU plastic that will not rip or tear during the ride. He said official courses conform to the company's code of safe conduct to avoid bouncing and collisions.

"We had 54,000 customers through the Rotorua site last year with no serious accidents," he said.

Zorb Ltd has only two permanent official sites - Rotorua and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Ambulance officers have trained Zorb staff to deal with emergency situations and taught them how to take an injured person out of the large, inflated ball - a situation he said had never arisen at either site.

The Sun Journal reported state officials' confirmation that Zorb New England, the promoter of the device in which the reporter was injured at Lost Valley Ski Resort, was operating without a permit.

Zorb New England co-manager Jeremy Coito acknowledged that his business in Danvile New Hampshire was not associated with Zorb Ltd, but claimed that "Zorbing is a generic trademark, a sport" and he could rightfully use its name.

"We have been fighting a battle on that for the last five years," Mr Horrocks said.

The company has been working hard to ensure the actions of those unofficially using the Zorb brand name would not affect the reputation of official sites like Rotorua.

Zorbs have been gaining recognition outside New Zealand in the past few years, fuelled by feature spots on TV shows such as Amazing Race and The Today Show.

The Zorb ball was invented by computer programmer Dwane van der Sluis and musician Andrew Akers.additional reporting NZPA