A fun packed weekend!
October 2011 byLast weekend was one of the best I have had in ages – it was full to the brim with exciting activities…. Scaling heights of over 30ft, ice skating and a delicious meal out.
On a chilly, yet sunny Saturday morning, myself and four of my family members headed up the M18 / M1 to Sheffield to try out the cities newest attraction.
We arrived at Aerial Extreme - sandwiched between iceSheffield and the Motorpoint arena and were all stunned by the sheer scale of the high ropes adventure course!
I have been on site varies times after handling their PR account for the past three months but it seemed a lot bigger and this time I had swapped my work attire for my tracksuit and trainers and was going to tackle the obstacles the course had to offer.
We stepped into our individual harness and had a full briefing from course instructor Leigh then headed to the start.
My hands were shaking as I went third in line, edging closer to the first obstacle, butterflies now kicking in and troublesome thoughts running through my head... ‘What am I doing…Will I complete the course!? Either way, there was no turning back now and having watched an eight-year-old complete the course my pride was at stake. So out of fear of getting stick from my younger brother, I took on the challenge!
The course starts out roughly 10ft off the ground with a range of obstacles including a tricky climbing wall, balance beams and spider webs to master, before heading to the next stage (roughly 20ft) gradually getting higher with hanging platforms and swinging bridges.
The lower part of the course includes all obstacles of the higher section, giving you confidence that you can master them at height. The one thing you couldn’t prepare for was the 30ft leap of faith – which we all had to jump off of to finish.
We all completed the course, with an added little squeak from me after jumping from the platform and landing on my back in the gravel – it wasn’t the most elegant of landings!
Some of the group even decided to do it all again. Not me - I didn’t want to ruin my sense of achievement after conquering my fear of heights.
The course was extremely exciting, if a little daunting at times and something that I am proud of completing and would recommend others to get involved in.
The day was finished off perfectly as we all received our own certificates.
For more information about the Aerial Extreme course in Sheffield or its other courses across the UK visit: www.aerialextreme.co.uk.
