Hiking mecca Runyon Canyon could be the site of a nearly 3,000-foot-long zip line if a pair of backers have their way.

The Valley-bred duo, sports marketing executives Jeff Pruitt and Ryan Woods, will have to battle L.A.'s notorious NIMBYism to get this thing off the ground. They're pitching the idea to the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council on Wednesday.

The council won't technically have veto power, but it could provide needed political support for the project. 

For $50, the “mega” zip line would take riders on a 90-mile-an-hour drop from 1,000 to 500 feet along one of the city's most scenic hikes, the pair told L.A. Weekly.

“You're flying through the air at high speed,” Woods said. “You're an eagle flying through Runyon Canyon.”

Parking at Hollywood and Highland Center would be free, and so would shuttles to and from the attraction.

Free parking also would be offered to anyone who wants to go up the hill on the zip line's shuttles, whether they buy a ticket or not, the two said. The idea is to alleviate parking and traffic for neighbors of the park, whose support the project would need, they said.

The Mulholland Drive entrance to the area would be used to drop off riders — it's an effort to placate neighbors — and customers would have to hike 10 minutes to the ride, Pruitt and Woods said. The park's main entrance would be the pick-up point for finished zip line users and hikers who want a ride back to Hollywood and Highland, they said.

Cyd Zeigler of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council says he'll withhold judgment until he sees the duo's presentation Wednesday evening. He says he uses the park “several times a week.”

“It's one of the great jewels of the city,” Zeigler said. “It's one of the things that makes Los Angeles special.”

The pair, who would work with Baltimore-based zip line specialist Adventure Solutions to build and operate the attraction, are proposing to donate $750,000 to the city for Runyon Canyon Park as well as about 20 percent of the line's revenues. They said the city's cut could be $2 million to $3 million a year.


The cash would be funneled to the Department of Recreation and Parks to be used at its discretion, but the pair said they will suggest a good proportion of it go directly to support Runyon Canyon Park.
  
The idea to put a zip line above the park — if the city even begins to like it — would have to be opened up to bidders. If all goes their way, Pruitt and Woods say the thing could be running by summer 2016.

“It will be overlooking the Los Angeles skyline,” Pruitt said. “It will have the best viewpoint of any zip line in the nation.”

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