Tag: brave

26th “thing” achieved: 26. Zip Wire in Snowdon

Dangling from a wire over a 1200ft drop

In 2013 I saw a video online of a new zip wire in Snowdonia. I’d not long climbed up the mountain and was excited to see a new way to experience the amazing scenery. I watched the video, filmed on a go pro, and my stomach plummeted as the person went over a ridge and the ground dropped away!

I decided then and there that I wanted to do this, despite my terrible fear of heights I could see instantly that this would be a brilliant experience. I told my friends, and one by one they all had a go, but I never got round to it.  When writing my list of 40 things, this was one of the first to be added – it was time to stop putting it off.

I had initially booked to go on my own, but then when chatting with my friend Sandy, she told me that she also wanted to have a go so we decided to go together. Weekends book out really quickly so I took a day off work and we headed up on a weekday. We drove up the night before – I’d booked accommodation at Bangor University in their halls of residence (all the students were away for the summer hols) because it was cheap and cheerful.

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On our way!

We had a brilliant road trip with lots of fun – you won’t be surprised to know it involved a lot of singing along to the radio! The drive took about 5 hours but it went so quickly with good company. When we arrived, the accommodation was surprisingly good, and for £30 it was a bargain.

The next day, we headed up to Penrhyn Quarry, the site of the zip wire. We arrived over an hour early so went for a little drive around to admire the Welsh countryside – it was so beautiful!

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We went back to the quarry to await our allotted time slot, feeling slightly nervous. The time came and we donned our sexy overalls and got into our harnesses. Safety briefing done, we then went to do a little zip wire – 500m – which gave us a little taste of what was to come. The most terrifying part was when you have to do a kind of press-up over a gap in the platform whilst they are strapping you in!

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Little zip wire done, we got in a truck to go to the top of the mountain for the big zip wire. The longest in Europe, the zip wire is almost 1600m long and can reach speeds of 118mph – the fastest in the world.  At the top, it hit us just how high up were were! On the way up we got chatting to a lad who was absolutely terrified – weirdly by calming him down it really helped us keep our nerves in check!

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Sandy and I decided to go first so that we didn’t have the excruciating wait where the terror built; so we immediately nipped to the front and got ourselves strapped in. A quick count down and we are off! It was a weird sensation, you are strapped in so that you are looking down the whole time. The ground dropped away and we zoomed to the finish line. Despite the immense speeds, the scenery is so vast that it doesn’t look like you are going that fast. You can feel it though because the wind is buffeting your face so hard – I almost couldn’t catch my breath!

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You can also watch the whole thing on Video here! 

A couple of minutes later and it was all over. The experience was exhilarating, definitely worth going! The only thing I regret is that I didn’t spend more time in Wales to enjoy the surroundings. It’s a long way to go for such a short experience but if it were part of a holiday in the area it would have been perfect.

For more information:

 

Bonus: Why did the chicken cross the road? We saw one on the way home but he didn’t stop to tell us 😀

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14th “thing” achieved: 31. Do a Sky Dive

I jumped out of a perfectly good plane!

I’m terrified of heights. As in, I feel a bit wobbly at the top of steps, I had a mini meltdown climbing Snowdon because the ground was a bit slopey, and ladders etc are a nightmare for me.

One of the purposes of my 40 things was to push the boundaries, and get out of my comfort zone. On my USA trip I went on the Skywalk even though I was pretty scared, and I did have a little “moment”. But I wanted to carry on facing my fears so the idea to do a skydive was born.

I asked around and was recommended Hinton Airfield. So I booked it, along with the video package.  The day came and I was surprised I wasn’t feeling anxious yet. Over the last few years I have learned the art of living in the moment, trying not to re-hash the past or worry about the future. It’s not always easy, but the principle is, if you can’t do anything about it, there is no point in dwelling on it.

Anyway, I was feeling quite chipper as I headed to Northamptonshire for my day. I couldn’t have asked for better weather – clear skies with just a slight breeze – and I arrived in good time for my 12:30 scheduled jump. After registering and signing the waiver, I waited for the briefing. It took a couple of hours, but eventually one of the instructors gathered the newbies together and gave us a run down.

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Perfect day for falling to the ground
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Awaiting my turn
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Briefing – how to avoid dying or breaking a limb

He talked us through the process and had us practice the freefall position and the landing position. When landing, he emphasised, you need to keep your legs really high off the ground to ensure you don’t break a leg. Lifting your legs requires some sort of core strength, so I was pretty rubbish at it, but I managed to pass scrutiny (just).

You’re not allowed to jump on your own until you’ve done at least 6 in tandem, not that I would have wanted to go on my own anyway. I was introduced to Steve, my instructor, and we went to get suited up.  The suit was pretty cool and I felt a bit like I was in Top Gun, although the hat was way too big for my tiny head so we just pulled the strap tight and hoped for the best.

Meet Steve
Suited up, feel like Top Gun
The Pen of Fear

Waiting for the plane, Steve and I had a chat. It was his 5th jump of the day, and he was telling me all about the band he is in, and we even had a little sing-song: “I’ve got you Babe” was our song of choice!  The videographer was a chap called Ya (pretty sure that’s a nickname), who had a tiny camera about 2″ which he was recording me with.

I warned Steve that whilst I was feeling quite positive, I would probably freak out when it was time to jump (based on past experience) so we got in the plane first, meaning we were the last to jump so if I did lose it, I wouldn’t spoil it for anyone else. We flew to 13,000 feet then it was time to go. Ya got out first, and hung off the side of the plane whilst we shuffled to the door. All was fine until my feet were dangling out, and it was too late by then, so I “assumed the position” (head and legs back) so I couldn’t see anyway. Steve rocked back and forth a couple of times, then we were off!

Ready to jump
Assume the position
Is it too late to back out?
Bye bye, plane!

Upon exiting the plane, we did a somersault, then went into freefall. It was an exhilarating experience, no more scary than being on a rollercoaster, but lots more fun. The only downside was the air pressure on my ears which absolutely killed!

We deployed a small drag ‘chute, to slow the freefall and prolong the experience. Ya continued to drop full speed as he dropped below for some more shots, which was massively disconcerting! After a long-ish freefall, we pulled the real parachute. It was amazing drifting through the air (ear pain notwithstanding) and we steered the parachute, even spinning ourselves round like a fairground ride, which was fun – although a bit nauseating!

Hat and goggles trying to come off

Finally it was time to land. Steve again told me to lift my legs, with many dire warnings of broken limbs, but I was absolutely rubbish! Tight flight suit, restrictive harness and zero core strength all combined to mean I simply could not lift my legs. In the end poor Steve had to put his feet under my legs and help to push them up! I landed in an inelegant plop onto my bum, but at least I didn’t break anything.

All in all, it was an amazing experience and I would strongly recommend that you try it, at least once. I am tempted to do it again, although I’ll need to do something about the ear thing next time!

To book a skydive, click here

To see the video, click here

For the full photo album, click here