Go Ape High Ropes centre review

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Votes: 576

by
Simon Wyndham

The "Go Ape" activity high ropes courses are now available to try in many of the UK's forest areas. The Wyre Forest centre is the newest addition to the chain, and I decided that I would give in to my fear of heights and give it a go.

The "Go Ape" activity centres have held a fascination for me for a few years now ever since I first caught sight of one of their course in the Forest of Dean. For the uninitiated "Go Ape" courses are high ropes courses set up amongst the forest trees and consist of various crossings of varying difficulty.

I am not exactly known for liking heights, so this was going to be a test! The Wyre Forest "Go Ape" course is the newest in the country. It isn't the highest, although it was plenty high enough for me!

Once you have signed in at the centre you are strapped up into some harnesses by the instructors and then taken for a safety talk. Make no mistake, "Go Ape" does have certain risks associated with it, but if you do as you are told you will be fine. The reason the safety talk is so important is because it turned out that once you are past the first set of obstacles you are then on your own and entirely responsible for your own safety. Children can do the course, but they must be accompanied by an adult.

Mostly the safety issues pertained to making sure that you attach yourself to the safety ropes and clips at all times. There is a system of two ropes, which means that even when switching to a different fixing point you always have one safety rope attached to something at all times.

Once the briefing is over and they have tested you on some sample obstacles to make sure that you know what you are doing, it is then on to the main course itself.

The course is broken into five sections of increasing difficulty. The majority of the obstacles consist of various rickety rope bridges and tight ropes, although there are also some zip wire crossings and "Tarzan swings", which require a lot of faith in your equipment!

The first section that required me to push myself off a ledge to slide along a zip wire to the other side was slightly nerve wracking! However it is a great feeling when you manage to do it and helps to build confidence for the rest of the course.\

There are far too many different obstacles to talk about each one individually here, but I will say that the long zip wires to the ground are absolutely brilliant! I absolutely loved going on these sections. You are quite a way up in the trees and really get a sense of exilleration as you speed towards the ground in the far distance.

Be careful to keep facing forwards though unless you like chipped tree bark in your pants when you land!

Overall I found Go Ape to be a great experience. Initially it does seem expensive at around £25 per head. However it takes a good three hours to complete the course and you will have a great laugh with a group of mates. For more information visit the Go Ape website.