In NC for vacay and my group of friends wants to go ziplining. Afraid of heights, squealing like a little girl at the thought, and trembling down to my little pinky toes (but totally down to go still)? Yes, that would be me lol.
Definitely RSVP! They send out small groups (no more than 10 patrons per hour) every hour with 2 instructors/ziplining pros.
Said pros will take your life in their hands, teach you the methods you need to survive in case they fall asleep on the job (I'm totally just kidding), and show you all that you need to do for the next 3 hours to zip down their 11 beautifully scenic lines, rappel down 3 taaaaall Ents (or trees), and walk (or crab-walk at a snail's pace, in my case) across their sky bridge.
Our instructors were Kouta (Koda? Kota? Sorry Coda!) and Karen. :) After teaching my group (7 of us!) all we needed to know to get through the zip, Kouta went out first. And then it's a quick choice of kicking group members off your tree, haha. (Jk.) Karen sets up the next person to go, and they go with a zzzzip! down the line. So on and so forth until the last person has gone, and then she brought up the caboose.
Also! They have "zip stops" set up at the end of every zipline, which means that no one is in charge of your braking. The "zip stop" mechanism does all the braking for you. (You basically allow your anchor to hit the zip stop, and that slows down your zipping so that you can make it to the tree without kissing the trunk.) If you weigh closer to 250 lbs, you will make it all the way to the platform. The closer you are to 70 lbs, the more you'll have to use your biceps to "sloth-climb" your way back along the line and to the next platform. Reeling myself in was not a problem. :)
Karen and Kouta were awesome with making sure everyone was OK. So, if you're like me and severely afraid of falling to your death... lolol no worries. You definitely get used to it, and it becomes So. Much. Fun. :) K & K had awesome customer service - always joking with us, calling us by name (which is amazing! I can't remember names if I meet more than 3 new people, lol), and hooking us up with hot cocoa/water/Chewy granola bars halfway through.
You get pictures for $25 ($10 off their original $35 if you do some liking on their FB at time of purchase) on a USB. And the pictures were great. :) Loved all the shots! We also took pictures with our cell phones, but just be sure you're zipping them up tight in whatever jacket/pants pocket. If it falls, it is gooooonnne foreevvverrrr.
Last but not least: I would LOVE to come back in the fall to see the trees with colorful leaves. Went in early Feb - trees were pretty barren, but the view was still gorgeous. Absolutely loved the experience. read more