When Hughes landed back home on Oahu in March of 2014 less than a year before the zip line tour was scheduled to open, the project was little more than a concept. Hughes was tasked with everything from finding a builder to figuring out how to get the water and power needed to the remote location.
“We need electricity here,” he recalls thinking. “We need bathrooms here. How are we going to do that?”
Hughes rejected the idea of generators, which were the obvious practical solution. The noise, exhaust, and need to constantly haul fuel up and down the valley didn’t fit with the brand image of “stewardship and preservation.”
Wind and solar were next on his list of considerations. Solar won out due to the island’s abundant sunshine—more than 270 days per year, on average.
Today, 30 solar panels charge a dozen 12-volt 200ah deep-cycle batteries. Through two inverters, that’s enough to power a water pump, lights in the bathroom and staff facilities, a refrigerator, microwave and water cooler, and an entire off-the-grid automated photo system designed to capture guests mid-flight (more on that later).
“Starting at 100 percent charge, we can run tours for about three days,” Hughes says. “And it’s always 100 percent, unless it’s been raining for three or four days in a row.”
And as it turns out, rainwater is as precious to the park’s green mission as sunshine, and the solar panels are used to help collect it.
Shortly after opening, while operating briefly without plumbing, Hughes noticed sheets of water pouring off the panels every time it rained. “Instead of having big diesel trucks going up and down the valley all the time, hauling water, we thought, ‘We’ve got these solar panels, and it rains a ton out here. Why don’t we just catch all the rain?’” he notes.
So operators figured out a way to use the solar panels to help collect it. Gutters were affixed to the edges of all 30 panels, collecting the runoff and channeling it into a 3,000-gallon water catchment system that, aside from a small solar-powered pump, is gravity fed.
Since installing the system last spring, the ranch has only had to truck water out to fill the tank once. The catchment system supports 10 daily tours, totaling 100 guests on average, and a staff of 20 guides and four drivers.
STRIKING A BALANCE
Maintaining a green operation is important to the Ranch, but ultimately, the guest experience is the number-one focus. This includes limiting numbers and growth to keep a healthy balance.
“It’s all about the experience the guests are having,” says Hughes. “If we brought in more staff, we could probably run more tours every day. But if it’s so rushed and so fast, the guests don’t really enjoy themselves.”
Keeping the numbers in check not only allows each guest to take more from the experience—which Hughes designed to be not just exciting, but educational, touching on culturally and environmentally significant aspects of the valley and its history along the way—it also helps lower the human impact in the area. Of course, zip lines themselves reduce impact, since the tour mostly sends guests over rather than through the valley’s sensitive ecosystems.
In keeping with the sustainable spirit, the staff even planted a vegetable garden out back to help make employee meals easy, sustainable, and healthy. “Right now it’s mostly sweet potatoes,” Hughes says.
CAPTURING THE MOMENT
Once the zip tour was up and running, one unique challenge remained. As with any memorable experience, guests wanted photos of their Hawaiian zip line adventure. And like any upsell opportunity, the resort was keen on the revenue. The question was, how best to deliver what the guests wanted?
While automated photo systems are not a novel idea in the industry, operating those systems off the grid is not the norm. Kualoa turned to Ben Kottke and Snapsportz, a vendor specializing in automated photo systems, for a solution. Snapsportz has cameras in a variety of venues, from ropes courses to ski resorts.
A photo taken by Aloha Pixels’ automated camera system. The company engineered a wireless camera network that runs on solar power. Relays and boosters transmit images via WiFi from the remote cameras to the controller station at Aloha Pixels’ base camp (right), where customers can view and purchase their memories from the day.
