Sometimes I don’t know why I put myself into positions that makes me nervous, maybe because I think the only way to grow is to be outside of my comfort zone. I have a major fear of heights, and especially falling from high places. That and plus my extreme paranoia of things going wrong, it’s a surprise I would ever sign up for treetop trekking. I went however because it was a social / team bonding event with my fellow Mon Sheong Youth Group / DiSCOVER execs and, when else would I get the chance to go? And also I thought a picture of me climbing would look very cool on Instagram. Unfortunately I do not have said picture because most of us didn’t bring our phones with us due to lack of pockets.
I think my fear of heights subsided a bit from my previous rock climbing experience as I was surprisingly not scared while climbing or going through the obstacles in the air, and didn’t feel too woozy looking down as I walked (but I still tried to prevent myself from looking down). Treetop trekking is pretty much obstacle courses, or as they call it Aerial Game Courses, in the forest going from tree to tree (with man-made platforms) in the air – not climbing up trees as I had originally imagined. It’s a lot of walking on wires, walking on steps (hung by wires), climbing ladders, and ZIP-LINING!
Zip-lining was actually something way out of my comfort zone because I am someone who hates that “stomach feeling” you get when on a roller coaster…and this seemed to be very similar in nature. I wasn’t even sure I would zip-line at all in the beginning. However, it is pretty much apart of every course and we started off with beginner courses with smaller and slower zip-lines. At the end of the day I even managed to zip-line across Heart Lake AND back! Contrary to my belief, zip-lining doesn’t go very fast, though I think it has to do with your weight and gravitational pull. For my last zip-line I didn’t even reach all the way to the end (because I wasn’t heavy enough, or going fast enough) that I had to pull myself to the end. Thankfully it was a short distance.
All in all, the obstacles are not too difficult and are made to be do-able and safe. Not once did I ever slip or was unable to do something, and ended up just dangling from my harness (something I was afraid of happening). But apparently the Brampton location I went to was one of the easier ones, so I am definitely looking forward to going again, and possibly to one of the other locations : )
the whitney files 