by Keith and Heather Nicol
When my sister Jan
and her son Zander came to Victoria, B.C. to visit we asked them if they had
ever been to an adventure park with cable bridges and ziplines. When they told
us they had not we decided to check out WildPlay Elements Park on Monday, July 27. It turns
out that Wild Play has locations in many cities in B.C. as well as outside the
province. The facility in Victoria has 2 components- a Monkido adventure course
which has various levels of difficulty and includes various aerial obstacle
games and ziplines which are suspended
between tall rainforest trees. We opted to do the classic Monkido course and
the What’s to Fear jump (WTF) from an elevated 40 foot platform. They also have an
extreme course and a course designed for younger children which seemed to be
very popular the day we were there.
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| Zander on the "green" Monkido course |
After signing
waivers and being outfitted with harnesses we were taken through a short test
course to demonstrate how to use the equipment. The idea is that by using a climbing harness
and carabiner clipping system you are always attached to a cable so should you
fall off of a platform or “wobbly” suspended obstacle you won’t fall very far.
The idea is to control the risk so that you can try balancing on ropes and
swinging logs at heights you would never attempt without being attached to a
safety cable. The obstacles start out easy and close to the ground and at the
end of the first course you have the option of walking down a small ladder to
the ground or carrying on. The next course is typically 20-30 feet above the
ground and the obstacles become more difficult and Jan and Zander opted to end
their day at this level. The 3rd level is now typically 30-40 feet
above the ground and the obstacles demand more balance and arm strength to
negotiate. Wild Play also has an extreme course which I plan to do the next
time we go to this facility.
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| The ziplines allow you to fly through the trees |
The final activity
that Jan was interested in trying was the WTF Jump which involves going up a
ladder to a platform 40 feet above the ground below and jumping off while
attached to a bungy type cord which allows you to free fall for several feet
before gradually slowing your descent to the ground. We really enjoyed the
challenge and thrill of all the various aspects of Wild Play and we plan to visit
one of their other parks which have more challenges like the primal swing and a 150 foot head first bungy jump. We recommend
that you reserve ahead of time since they are very busy in the summer,
especially on sunny days. For more
information see: wildplay.com .
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| Jan jumping off the 40 foot What's to Fear platform |
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