#46 Ziplining and Ropes Course

I've always wanted to go ziplining, not only to have the experience but to test myself to see if I can handle heights.

The opportunity came to go to TreeUmph Adventure Course with some of my awesome coworkers and I was ready for the challenge.

Kind of.

So something you should know about me. I have had three big irrational fears in my life.

1. Being eaten by a shark courtesy of Jaws

2. Giant gnarly ugly buffo toads from Miami

3. My kids slipping through the stair risers at Wet 'N Wild when they were little.

Wet 'N Wild Backstory : The longer we waited in the line, the further away the ground looked, the littler and slipperier (from sunscreen) Emmy and Ollie looked, and the more my imagination ran away from me. The open grid stairs had low railings, big open risers, and shook in the wind. And they went up at least 4 stories. I had full blown panic attacks all day - - one after another after another. It freaking terrified me, and that gut wrenching fear is something I can never forget.

So I don't think it's heights that bother me. It's when there are gaps under my feet of open areas... That's what gets me into panic mode.

I was curious to see if the Ropes course would cause me the same anxiety or if I would do better, especially since this was all for me and I didn't have little ones to fiercely protect.

Turns out...

I still have the panic attacks.

Dagnammit!!!!!!

This course scared the holy bajeebers of of me. Even though I had so much fun with the people I was with, I have to say this has been the first of my badass adventures that I didn't enjoy.

Still, I'm proud that I tried. And I'm proud that I got through the entire first course without giving up. (Not that I could. There literally was no way down).

They start you out with an education course about how to hook and unhook yourself from the safety wires. It's a pretty cool process involving magnets but I won't bore you with details.

Then you do a small test drive course before you hit the big time.

Deep breath. I clipped myself in, hauled myself up the big ass ladder, hugged the support pole as i scooched around to get to the first station: Wood planks secured on both sides so minimum wiggling plus two sturdy wires to grip.

I just didn't look down and it was fine.

Next few got harder to do, more unstable, wigglier, bouncier, and more open air between steps. I had to look at my feet more, and that's when it started getting bad, seeing how small the steps were and how much open air was around me.

But the worst was yet to come. I call it The Beast: Small narrow planks on swings. Only one for fits on each small swing.You have a wire on each side to hold on to but you have to release your hands after each step because of the wire grids. So you take a step or into the abyss and hope your foot lands squarely on the swinging step. If it doesn't, you are out of luck because you have gone past the point of no return.

What would happen if you fell? You would certainly get banged around before being yanked to a stop by your safety harness. At which point everyone on the ground would be watching you swing like a wet sock half filled with sand on a clothesline. If you could somehow haul yourself up back to the swing, you would have to figure out how to hoist yourself back up into that tiny swinging platform in order to keep going. If you couldn't, you are supposed to shriek, "Guide, guide, guide" at which time one of the lifeguards would come and rescue you. Somehow.

So I hecka did not want to fall... But I was terrified. My muscles were so tense they were shaking, sweat was pouring off my face, and I was mentally slapping myself for doing this voluntarily.

My friends were amazing, coaching me and cheering me on. It might have taken me 10x as long to cross as everyone else, but I finally made it.

But I wasn't done yet. I still had to shimmy along a long tightrope, another wiggly bouncy rope bridge and a few more obstacles before getting to my first Zipline.

Now THIS was fun!!! I had no problem mentally launching myself by sitting back on my heels and stepping off the edge. I whooped it up, had one more knuckle gripping descent down a rickety pole ladder, and I was down!!!

A few of my friends were braver than me and did an even harder trail - - even higher with fewer things to hold onto.

Not me. I happily took pics and hung out with Christine and Mindy on the ground, knowing that I had reached my breaking point and I needed to know when to stop.

I was pissed at myself though. Still am. My panic attacks stopped the moment my feet got the earth. I knew I wouldn't die. I knew it was safe (enough). But I couldn't escape that panic of seeing the ground so far away under my feet.

We had one more Zipline to do. To get to it, you had to climb up a series of wiggly ramps that got progressively steeper and bouncier the higher you went.

I got up to the Zipline launching pad, hooked myself in, and jumped off. (Why can I do this but I can't walk across a shaky open bridge? It's a mystery!)

Zipping along I felt a lovely surge of adrenaline and have a big "Yeeehawwwwww". When I got to the landing pad, I stuck my landing on two feet wrapping my arms around the support pole in appreciation that I was done with the adventure course.

I found out what happens if you get stuck. One of my friends came into the landing area a bit too hard and ricocheted backwards, continuing to slide until finally coming to a halt mid-wire. As she worked to hand over hand herself, we called "Guide, guide, guide!!!". Sure enough, in a few seconds we saw a lifeguard running in our direction. She ran up the stairs of the landing pad, clipped herself onto the line, and zipped down to my friend. They linked together and the lifeguard pulled both herself and my friend hand over hand back up to the landing pad. Impressive strong woman!

The best part of this day by far was hanging out with this incredible group of women. I would do this adventure again with them anytime (as long as I was allowed to stay on the ground!). Thanks FV Bradenton team and friends and family for an amazing day!