Anyone for an adrenaline pumping high-wire adventure? (Go Ape! Dalby Forest)

Member Name: cstag

Product:	Go Ape! Dalby Forest
Date:	03/06/09 (155 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You can pretend you are Tarzan for the day!

Disadvantages: None - see advantage! Enough said!

What's it all about?

Go Ape basically consists of a giant obstacle course in a forest - however instead of the course being on the ground - its high up in the trees! Each course features ladders, walkways, bridges and tunnels made of wood, rope and wire and a very exciting 'zip line' (which gets your feet safely back on the floor again!) I have now been to Go Ape twice - both occasions were for hen dos.

Safety First!

On arrival at Go Ape you are greeted by an instructor who explains all of the safety regulations in a half hour session to ensure your day goes smoothly and without incident. They are very thorough in their explanation of how to get yourself safely around the course and I personally found this very reassuring! You are then fitted with your safety equipment which includes a harness and a pulley system. You are also encouraged to check eachothers safety equipment regularly throughout the course.

How it works is that you initially climb a ladder to start the course. Before you climb the ladder however you attach yourself (using the safety equipment) to a thick metal wire. This wire runs the entire length of the course and you are taught at the beginning by the instructor that you should always have one of your safety attachments attached to the wire or to the obstacle (this means that you are never on the obstacle course without being attached to something.)

The Course

The course is set out in approx 5 parts - each part being a series of obstacles before heading down a zip wire. Each part gets progressively higher and harder with the zip lines getting longer. Initially you start the course on quite a low level with quite easy obstacles - very simple rope ladders and rope bridges followed by a short line zip line.

This first section is also not very high off the ground. This gradually gets more and more difficult till you end up with more challenging obstacles which are set higher off the ground. I found this progression of courses to be particularly useful as it meant that it built my confidence - by the end I wasn't finding the obstacles that daunting.

To access each part of the course you climb a ladder. Once up in the trees you have to navigate your way through a variety of different obstacles. These can vary from simple walkways, to stepping from log to log, rope bridges, tunnels, trapezes, rope swings and rope ladders. You feel perfectly safe if you slip (which I did once!) as you are caught in your harness (so don't fall) and can just find your feet again and continue with the adventure.

Each obstacle is separated by a wooden platform which gives you the opportunity to catch your breath and have a think about how you are going to complete the next obstacle. I also found that as your friends are normally stood on here waiting for their turn - then they can offer you encouragement or make suggestions as to the best way to get through the obstacle.

I didn't need to worry about not being able to do different parts of the course as when there was a particularly tricky obstacle - there was also an alternative route which was much easier. These routes are clearly labelled as 'easy' or 'hard'.

The hardest part of the course for me was swinging from a Tarzan rope into a cargo net. You then had to climb up the net onto the next platform - this made me realise how little upper body strength I actually have! The best part of the course is the zip lines - which is probably the most adrenaline pumping part - zipping through the trees down a wire on to the ground below. This is the bit at which I got most dirty though as I kept forgetting to put my feet down and just skidded through the leaves instead.

There are also instructors scattered throughout the course to help you out if you get stuck or have any problems.

The Social Aspect

Because the people on the hen dos were from different circles of friends of the bride (e.g. school, university, work) there were groups of people in our party who had never met before. However this experience takes everyone out of their comfort zone and you are all in the same boat.

As you are encouraging each other to get through the obstacles, checking each others safety gear - it led to talking and cooperation between team members and almost meant that you had to have a level of trust in people that you didn't know. This meant by that evening we were all firm friends! I would imagine this would also be a really good event for a works team building exercise as it encourages communication and cooperation.

My Experience

I felt perfectly safe all the way through this - more so after I had my slip and realised that my safety harness would catch me!

I am actually scared of heights as well. I can happily go in a hot air balloon ride but much to my embarrassment I have been known to freeze and sob my socks off whilst up a step ladder painting the ceiling! I have a ridiculous fear of heights - expect its just a fear of not particularly high heights!

Whilst I was nervous before we arrived, the fact that the course gets progressively more difficult was very reassuring for me and helped me build in confidence. Because of a fear of heights I found this probably more personally challenging than others in my group and I was left with a huge sense of achievement on finishing it.

You don't have to be particularly fit or healthy to do the course. We just took it at our own pace and there were children as young as 10 taking part so you don't have to be especially strong either.

Locations and Price

The course took us about 3-4 hours to complete and it costs approx £25 for an adult and £20 for a child. There are 22 sites all around the UK which offer the Go Ape Experience. There is a very comprehensive website (www.goape.co.uk) which includes details of locations, frequently asked questions and photographs of the obstacles and people undertaking the course.

This is such a brilliant day out and I have loved it every time I have been. It gets the adrenaline pumping and is great, great fun! Would highly recommend to everyone!

Summary: A Brilliant day of fun!