Words: Cahal Milmo

The task of leaping across a yawning chasm between the swaying boughs of a pine tree and an adjacent oak is traditionally the work of squirrels, not humans. If called to do so, the average homo sapien will rightfully ask what is to be gained from grappling with thin air while 40 feet off the ground in the domain of bushy-tailed rodents. The answer is unlikely to be “fun”.

But, with the addition of a harness, some climbing clips and a fairly fearsome safety briefing, this is precisely the alchemy that Go Ape! – essentially an obstacle course of varying and sometimes fiendish intensity conducted entirely in the canopy – achieves.

One rain-kissed morning this summer I found myself in the verdant surroundings of Bedgebury Forest in Kent in the company of my 11-year-old daughter and her best friend being warned in the friendliest-possible terms that I was about to undertake a “high-risk activity”. Since this description fits just about any task performed with two exuberant pre-teens, from crossing busy roads to offering to pay for new trainers, I was not unduly perturbed.

It was only when I found myself some distance off the ground on a narrow wooden platform with both girls giddily hanging off its edge before letting go and laughing uproariously as they failed to plummet to earth that I truly understood what had been meant. To be clear, as long as you follow the straightforward instructions Go Ape! is perfectly, spine-tinglingly safe.

In short, you have two climbing clips (“carabiners” in the jargon) which are attached to steel cables that accompany you every step of your journey across the canopy. As long as at least one (but preferably both) of the clips remains attached to the safety system (and trust me, it turns out humans are hardwired to achieve this), nothing can happen apart from the embarrassment of having to be rescued if you really, really get stuck.

In return for this welcome assurance that one wrong step will not result in oblivion, Go Apers! get to pit their wits and stomach contents against a fascinating array of tree-based feats. Particular highlights include the Tarzan Swing, which involves a precipitous plunge, a giant bounce and a compulsory bloodcurdling scream as you are zip-wired into a giant rope net to be deposited like a flailing four-limbed spider.

Then there is the obstacle that involves hooking your feet into a series of stirrups dangling from ropes at one-metre intervals while eyeballing birds in their nests. My ladylike biceps have rarely received such a work out, or been so grateful for the salvation of a wooden platform.

But the point is it is fun. Huge, breathtaking, laugh-out-loud, confidence-building, buttock-clenching, daredevil-inspiring fun.

In a world where childhood thrills are increasingly dispensed by ever-more giddying rollercoasters and rides in theme parks where the most authentically terrifying experience is the damage done to the parental wallet, a day out like Go Ape! offers something far more memorable with the trusty technology of some rope and trees.

It turns out that physical exertion in return for a sense of elation and achievement is so much more rewarding than being thrown into a loop-the-loop by a computer. Don’t just take my word for it. After three hours of exhausting endeavour, finally at the bottom of the final zipwire and covered in woodchippings, my daughter had just five words: “Can we do it again?”

goape.co.uk