Zorb ball plans come bouncing back in Amesbury

AMESBURY — After a slight delay, the “extreme” sport of rolling down a hill in an inflated ball has found its way back to Amesbury Sports Park.

After abruptly canceling a contract with its initial vendor after learning of the owner’s link to a Newbury antique money scandal, the facility has found a new vendor for the premiere of this summertime sport, sometimes called “zorbing,” or more accurately “OGO-ing” (Outdoor Gravity Orbs).

A “soft opening” for the new sport will be on Saturday, June 28, followed by a grand opening on Saturday, July 12.

“It’s going to be huge,” said Curtis Wollitz, CFO of Amesbury Sports Park.

Zorbing, or OGOing, originated in New Zealand. It requires a person, or persons, to climb inside a giant inflatable ball and roll down a hill. The OGO track at Amesbury Sports Park is one of the longest ever built, more than 700 feet.

The grand opening, which will include the official start of OGO as well as summer tubing at the park, will include food, vendors and entertainment.

The June 28 event invites participants to come down and join Mayor Thatcher Kezer for the launch of the two new sports. Kezer will be one of the first to enter an OGO and experience the ride at the Sports Park. Half of all proceeds from the June event will benefit Amesbury Days.

The date of the summer openings comes after several weeks of curiosity as to whether or not the park was going to be able to find a new vendor in time for the summer season.

Last month, while in the final stages of contract talks with Zorb New England, park managers became aware of a case from 2005 involving the owners of the zorbing company in an alleged larceny case.

Barry Billcliff and Matt Ingham of Zorb New England had been charged with the theft of about 1,800 antique bills, face value about $720,000, they found stashed in the eaves of a Newbury barn they’d been hired to reroof. Claiming they’d dug up the money in a friend’s backyard in Methuen, they got national headlines before the story unraveled and they were arrested. But the criminal charges were dismissed in 2006 after a confession was thrown out.

Not wishing to tarnish the reputation of the park or the new sport, the facility decided to drop the contract with Zorb New England and search for a new supplier for the zorb balls.

Enter Chris Roberts, CEO of OGO Inc.

According to Bob Ramshaw, consultant for Amesbury Sports Park, Roberts contacted Sports Park Vice President MaryCarol Fowler when he found out that the park was searching for a new vendor.

Roberts, originally from Maryland, has worked with OGO for 21/2 years. Roberts became involved with the sport after striking up a friendship with New Zealander Andrew Akers, one of the men credited with the invention of the extreme activity.

“OGOs seem a bit aggressive,” said Roberts, “but it’s a great experience.”

The Sports Park will offer two types of OGOs this summer — wet and dry. The water OGO involves five gallons of water inside the plastic OGO creating a lubricant that allows those inside the ball to slip and slide around as it tumbles down the hill. Up to three people can be inside the water OGO.

“It’s a great family activity,” Roberts said. He also noted that there will be a height, age and weight limit for the OGO. Children under the age of 7 must be accompanied by an adult, and more than likely there will be a 48-inch height requirement for the balls.

Perhaps a more extreme event is that which involves a dry OGO. Roberts explained that a seven-point harness straps a single passenger inside the OGO as he or she tumbles end-over-end inside the giant ball.

“It’s an odd feeling,” said Ramshaw. “You just see sky, ground, sky, ground. It’s a lot of fun.”

In addition to the OGO, Amesbury Sports Park will offer summer tubing, an adaptation of the winter sliding sport that is offered at the park.

“It’s a natural extension of what we already do,” Ramshaw said.

The summer tubing will simulate snow tubing by installing Neveplast, a silicone coating, to several of the tracks at the park. Small sprinklers will be installed on the side of the tubing tracks to spritz those tubing during the warm summer days.

Riders will travel up the newly installed lift with their tubes and ride down the 600-foot tubing path, a length that Ramshaw claims is the longest summer tubing path in the world.

“We’ll just finish off on 495 if it’s not,” joked Ramshaw, referencing the interstate that runs right behind the park.

The most important aspect, however, is that those at the Amesbury Sports Park aim to make the summer activities accessible for families with any size budget.

For summer tubing, a three-hour pass will cost $20; another $10 will get you a ride in an OGO.

Roberts noted that OGO is the first of its kind in New England, and only the second park in the U.S. to offer the sport.

Nevertheless, Amesbury Sports Park and OGO Inc. have bigger and better plans for the future, as Ramshaw and Wollitz agree that this summer’s OGO is only the first in a series of activities they’re planning for the park.

Roberts added that he would like to install a zig-zag track for the OGOs in the near future.

“This is just the beginning,” Roberts said.