Sarah Warsi

Recently, I took part in a fun but challenging outdoor group activity called Treetop Trekking. If you’ve never heard of it before, it is basically an amusement park for nature and adventure enthusiasts consisting of various different types of outdoor activities catering to all ages. One of their notable activities is the aerial trek where you navigate through different obstacles throughout the forest, including ziplining.

Now, in all honesty, I had no idea what to really expect going into this. Our team did this event a few years ago, but I opted to be a passive observer then, because, admittedly, I was too nervous about it. This time, however, I was more confident about trying it out – and I’m glad I did.

However, I did not anticipate it to be as strenuous as it was! 

As fun as it was, it’s not for people that are unwilling to be physically challenged. We’re not talking American Ninja Warrior type challenged – well, actually the more advanced levels might be close to it. (I wouldn’t know because I stopped at level three), however, treetop trekking is not a walk in the park.

The training at the beginning is for this exact purpose. You need to test your ability to hang off the wire and pull yourself back onto it before you begin the actual trek.

This is an important step to guage if you’d be able to get yourself back onto a course in the unlikely event that you slipped and needed to get yourself back onto a platform or wire.

Obviously, as you can see, you’re very securely harnessed in, but once you venture out onto the activity, you’re pretty much on your own to navigate each course as carefully and safely as possible.

One critical aspect to this activity is to familiarize yourself with the clips. If you’re doing this activity in a group, it is usually best to pair up with a buddy so that you are never going through a course alone at any given time. The hook that you’re always attached to can sometimes be difficult to navigate over certain mechanisms at each course, so having someone on the platform with you really helps in that sense. It’s also comforting to do the actual activities with a buddy waiting for you at the other end.

The way the course works is that there are six levels, and each level gets progressively harder. Each level also ends with a zipline (I think) – it’s like the final fun ride that you’ve basically earned after going through all the grueling obstacles.

The image below is of me going through the first level, I believe.

The first level was pretty smooth. It was a ‘getting the hang of it’ type of level. The second level was a little more difficult, but doable, and going on the zipline for each one was…hilarious – for me at least. 

I had never been ziplining before, so once again, I had no idea what to expect. The first one had me turning in the other direction and hitting the protective mat at the end. Ouch! Actually, it didn’t hurt at all, but the ‘thud’ I made might have suggested otherwise. LoL. 

The second time was after completing level three, and I had a bit more control over the landing – but I still couldn’t catch the rope in time so I got sprung back into the middle of the zipline. Once you stop moving, you’re asked to pull yourself back up onto the platform. It was actually not that bad and the staff members were great in guiding me along.

Now, in the third level, there were a couple of obstacles that I did feel a bit intimidated by. I was going to stop at level two, but my colleague and I decided after a bit of a break to give level three a shot.

Here’s the thing about Treetop Trekking: as far as I could see or notice, there really isn’t an emergency escape route at any of the courses in case someone gets cold feet or for whatever reason cannot complete the obstacle. There are no ’emergency’ ladders or anything.

If you’re confidence starts to wan and you get nervous about trying an obstacle because you’re getting tired, you basically need to pull yourself together, take a few deep breaths, and continue, or go backwards which is not always easy or doable if there are other people behind you. Only two people are allowed on each platform at any given time.

Many of the obstacles throughout each level are similar in nature, but get more challenging with larger spaces in between steps, higher aerial ropes to grasp, etc. By level three, I was getting tired and that inevitably affected my stamina. There was one obstacle in particular where, if not for my adrenaline in overdrive, I would have probably had a panic attack.

The obstacle involved dragging yourself on a rope by standing on a surfboard type of thing – except the surfboard seemed to not be properly moving on its hinges so it would stop ¾ of the way to the other side instead of going right to the end.

So you were basically forced to stand on the supporting rope that was holding the surfboard in place – even though that was not how it was intended to be used. Thankfully, my colleague coached me – which helped ease my nerves and I was able to clear the course. Other members of my group also agreed that that particular course was not fun!

They do have someone on the ground watching you, but if you were to slip and dangle off a rope, you’re pretty much on your own to hoist yourself back up – hence the training at the beginning. This reality only adds to the nerves especially if you come across an obstacle that makes you nervous – as was the case with the sufboard one. There was another one in level 3 that involved walking on a tight rope that I practically had to drag myself through – but I persevered.

When you’re in the moment, all you’re thinking about is completing the course, but when you have time to reflect back, it’s quite a sense of accomplishment.

Ideally, you’d have all the time in the world between levels to get a good amount of rest to continue going, if you wanted to, but you generally have a 3-hour timeslot to get through all six levels, so you basically do what you can in that amount of time. Only one person on our team managed to complete all 6 levels – what a trooper!

The third and largest zipline at the park was called the Monarch Zipline which is a special attraction on its own and runs approximately 700 feet. I almost didn’t do this one, because I was still recovering from level three, but I’m so glad I did.

It was an exhilarating experience flying high through the trees, and the best part was that my landing stuck!

The third time was a charm. LoL.

They had an auto break mechanism for this one, so I didn’t have to worry about catapulting back out. This image (although not very clear), shows me coasting by.

So if you’re an outdoors person who likes a challenge, are okay with heights, and are looking to do something fun and unique for the summer, I would recommend checking out the aerial trek at Treetop Trekking. They even offer the activity at night for people that want to stretch their limits even further by doing the entire trek in the dark with only the light of a head lamp infront of you. It does sound exciting.

And as mentioned before, they have many other fun activities that are suitable for kids such as uplå and treewalk village.

Needless to say, this entire activity was out of my comfort zone – but that was what made it so enjoyable and satisfying at the end. Whether you completed one or all six levels, it was something to be proud of. And the level of ‘can barely move’ soreness I experienced the next day was well worth it.

So if you ever want to try something new that makes you nervous, but in a ‘good’ way, then go for it. Turn your fear into motivation and let your confidence take over. Think about how good you’d feel about yourself after the fact, and let that be your driving factor. You can do it!