March 14, 2016

Go Ape this spring

If you haven’t noticed the daffodils, lighter evenings and slightly warmer days, where have you been? Next Sunday marks the beginning of spring, but forget about the cleaning and clear outs that traditionally come with this time of the year – it’s time to dust off those New Year resolutions instead.

If you haven’t yet done what you pledged to do this year (and even if you have), how about making 2016 the year of adventure, risk or facing your fear? We’ve found the best way for you to do any of the above, no matter whereabouts in the UK you live and guess what? We tried it, so we can tell you exactly what you’ll be getting yourself into…

GoApe is a forest adventure offering high ropes courses, forest segways, tree top junior courses and zip trekking in beautiful parks across the UK. We tried the tree top adventure – something I hadn’t done since a team building day at college many, many years ago – courtesy of Virgin Experience Days at the Trent Park branch (see what I did there?) near London.

Firstly you should know that GoApe isn’t for the faint-hearted, but it also isn’t just for the guys. In fact, we even spied what looked very much like a hen party! Secondly, as you’d hope, there’s a huge emphasis on safety, but in no way does this detract from the fun. And it is fun.

The high ropes course consists of 5 sites, each starting with a rope ladder and ending with a zip wire. The bits in between vary from moving wooden platforms you must walk across to Tarzan swings (where you swing into a rope net), and other feats of balance and agility, and the time it takes you to complete the course flies by.

GoApe is also an enjoyable alternative to a weekend gym session and longer than your average workout – the course takes between two and three hours. That’s another great thing about this place, there’s no rush. You have a safety demonstration, a practice circuit both before and on entering the forest and then that’s it, you’re left to go at your own speed with instructors dotted throughout. So whether you want to go solo, as a couple, family or even for a corporate event, the freedom you’re given means you can tailor it to you.

Girls Talk London’s top tips for conquering the course

Having done and loved the course, we’ve got five tips for enjoying your GoApe experience:

Embrace it

You’re high up in the treetops, connected to wires and trees and you may be feeling less than comfortable, but take some time to embrace your gorgeous surroundings. It’s also surprisingly quiet as everyone concentrates on the task in hand, so savour the silence.

Go on a Sunday

This may be different as summer approaches, but we went on a Sunday and it often felt like we were the only people on the course!

Just jump!

When it comes to the Tarzan swing and the zip wires, don’t think, just jump – take it from us!

Feel the fear – and do it anyway!

Each crossing is marked as easy, moderate, difficult or extreme but try to not let that dictate what you do. The difficult route may challenge you but feel the fear and do it anyway! We especially recommend the Extreme Tarzan Swing.

Share your sense of achievement…

…on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, anywhere! Because despite the number of times you stood up there and thought you couldn’t do it, you did it and that deserves some social loving!

For more information on GoApe visit https://goape.co.uk. Virgin Experience Days can be found at http://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk/.

Stephanie Bolton

@StephanieBolton