Soar above the treetops on a zip line, a 30-second thrill ride that zooms you downhill at high speeds. Riders wear a harness that clips to a cable, and automatic brakes prevent crashes at the bottom. Popularized in Costa Rica as a way to tour the forest canopy, zip-line rides are popping up across the United States.

The newest is at California’s Heavenly Mountain ski resort, where riders hit speeds of 50mph and enjoy views of Lake Tahoe ($30; skiheavenly.com). Other ski areas with zip lines include New Hampshire’s Wildcat Mountain (skiwild cat.com) and Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort, which zips you 110 feet above the ground ($19; parkcitymountainresort .com). Or watch Nordic ski jumpers launch from the 120-meter jump that parallels the supersteep zip line at Utah Olympic Park, where riders can attain speeds of 60mph ($20; utahathleticfoundation .com). The zip line at Alaska’s Icy Strait Point is more than a mile long and is popular with cruise-ship passengers who visit Juneau. Suspended 530 feet above the ground, riders sometimes look down to see bald eagles flying below ($90; icystraitpoint.com). How popular are these heart-pounding rides? ZipRider (ziprider.com) is building one at a ski resort in Siberia. Hold onto your fur hats!