Aerial Assault in Aberfoyle

June 30, 2008 on 12:37 pm | In Aerial Assault Course | 1 Comment

Last weekend I dragged poor Ally along to Go Ape in Aberfoyle. We were up for the weekend and it was too good an opportunity to miss. He wasn’t keen to begin with and I didn’t realise it was because he has a fear of heights.

We were booked in for 11:30 and turned up promptly to complete our medical forms and awaited the instruction. There were 13 (unlucky for some) in our group and we were harnessed up and shown the ropes (red to red and blue goes through) as we would be let loose on the course by ourselves without an instructor.

Aberfeldy Go Ape boasts Britains two longest zip wires. The first took us 150 feet over a 90 foot waterfall. My landing was without dignity and I ended up on my back on a pile of wet wood bark - really fetching but as the course goes on you know you are going to get even more dirty. We then climbed a tree and crossed several rope bridges as well as the tarzan swing which saw you holding onto a rope and crashing into a rope net.

The most difficult section was what were effectively horse stirrups high in the trees that you had to cross. It felt more like Gladiators by the minute.

The final zip wire was the best and longest and was totally exhilarating. The whole course took about three hours and left us feeling like we had a great adventure. After all that we treated outselves to a hot drink and cake in the David Marshall Lodge. We stayed at the Bield B&B which was lovely and welcoming and did magnificent breakfasts.

Gillian Thompson
http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
Works with adventure sports in Scotland and has a keen interest in hill walking and a new passion for surfing.