The Zip Line Adventure Course

I undertook the challenge of an adventure course that included climbing rope ladders and cargo nets; transversing suspended vertical logs and wobbly footbridges hung high in the air; maneuvering along climbing walls; and propelling across zip lines.

                  Click here to see some video highlights of my adventure!

The park where this challenge occurred has four courses which get progressively more difficult and higher in elevation.  We were told in the training video that the experience was designed to be challenging and it was not expected that everyone would finish all four of the courses.

After completing the first two courses and doing the final zip line which runs the length of their sizable property—the Triumph Zip—I found their advice to be true.  I was tired.  But I thought I probably had the strength and energy for one more course.  “Let’s go!”  I told myself.  “Make the experience worthwhile!” 

So, I skipped the third course and went to the fourth course.  That makes sense, right?

(Don’t laugh at me and shake your head.  That was a rhetorical question.)

Approximately half way through the fourth course—high up in the trees with nowhere to go but forward to the conclusion of the course—I asked myself, “What was I thinking?  What have I gotten myself into?  Why didn’t I just stop after two courses since I knew I was tired?”

Answering those questions required energy, however, so I put the thoughts aside and moved on.

As I was crossing a line—imagine a high wire only there are mountain climbing carabiners attached to cables to prevent falling to your death—I came to a point where a large hoop must be climbed through on the high wire.  (That’s right, a large hoop on the high wire.  It’s supposed to be challenging, remember?)   When I lifted and extended my leg to an unnatural position in order to crawl through the hoop the muscles in my thigh began to cramp.  I was still on the high wire when this happened and I probably had a third of the course yet to complete.

Oddly enough, my response to this unfortunate position was to begin laughing and in fact I was laughing to the point that I almost lost my footing on the high wire.  Although a good laugh is fun and amusing—and really nice when you’re sitting comfortably in a chair—it is not at all helpful when you are 45 feet in the air on a high wire.  If I would have lost my footing I would not have fallen to the ground because of the carabiners.  However, I’m not sure I would have been able to pull myself back up to the high wire because the nature of the challenges on the course are such that the upper body muscles become very fatigued.  Did I mention that I was tired?

So, if I would have lost my footing while I was laughing with my cramped thigh on the high wire it’s possible that I would have had to call out, “Guide!  Guide!  Guide!” as per the safety instructions.  Then the guides would have climbed to my position and rescued me.  I had not seen anyone who needed to be rescued the entire time I was at the park.  I did not want to be the one who required this embarrassing assistance.

In the training video they said there was no shame in needing to be rescued and, in fact, it could even be a fun part of the day’s adventure.  But that’s not how I wanted to have fun.

Fortunately I made it to the end of the high wire and was able to continue on and complete the fourth course.

Half an hour later I was safely carried home on a stretcher by several girl scouts who were working on some type of merit badges.  (I should note that this is not an embarrassing form of assistance, however.)