Zipline across the Mississippi River added to Super Bowl festival

They didn't brand it the Bold North Super Bowl for nothing.

In the 10 days leading up to the game Feb. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium, the brave and the daring can show their mettle and embrace winter by flying 100 feet above the Mississippi River on the "Bold North Zipline."

Canada-based Ziptrek EcoTours will set up four towers to support four zip lines starting on Nicollet Island. The hardy will buzz aloft for 750 feet and land on the West River Parkway.

Polaris will run shuttles to the ride from the Super Bowl Live event, featuring free concerts on Nicollet Mall.

Interested daredevils must sign up in advance through the Super Bowl Host Committee website. The zipline will cost $30 per person.

Former Minnesota Viking Robert Griffith, who now lives in Los Angeles, is sponsoring the event with his nascent backpack company XOOX.

The zipline hours will be mostly after dark, perfect for seeing the city's twinkling skyline. Weather conditions are, of course, to be determined.

This river crossing sits just above the Stone Arch Bridge and Saint Anthony Falls with the Grain Belt sign, the Guthrie Theater and the stadium to the left and the rest of the skyline to the right.

Depending on temperatures, the river could be frozen solid, chunks of ice or rocking and rolling.

Minneapolis Mayor-elect Jacob Frey, now a City Council member, expects to be the first one to take the ride.

That prompted Super Bowl CEO Maureen Bausch to say, "You truly are a 'Bold North' mayor."

She described the river as the longtime lifeblood of the city and the state.

Frey added, "The Mississippi River is so emblematic of everything that is Minneapolis and Minnesota and America."