Hunter Mountain Sky Rider, No Refunds.

Hunter Mountain Sky Rider, No Refunds.

In which the author attempts to conquer a fear of heights. Life lessons? Not a chance.

     Last year my husband Don and I were sitting on the couch watching T.V.,(a far too familiar scenario), and saw a commercial for some state or another featuring people zip lining. These happy young people appeared to be gently gliding through or barely over the treetops. Zip lining is the new thing!  We really must try this before we lose our mental and physical capabilities. My life- long fear of heights had worsened since a Ferris wheel incident years ago where I was seemingly abandoned, alone and spinning until the attendant finally returned and announced: “They don’t pay me enough to operate this damn thing”.  I needed to challenge myself again.

     A google search showed that Hunter Mountain had zip lines and was located near one of our favorite towns, Phoenicia, in the Catskills. I called to arrange it and later could not remember if the zip line was 60 feet or 600 feet off the ground. Well, I thought, when it breaks I will surely be dead either way so we signed up for the Sky Rider Tour.

     We signed waivers and “forgot” about heart conditions and back problems so we could give it a try. We met our guide Tim, who was a former telephone lineman about our age. I watched the guides interacting with the riders. Tim asked how to keep adult children out of the house and we told him to just get basic cable, and they will disappear pretty quickly. A young girl was being harnessed for a different tour and her guide said “You like One Direction? Me too, I like Harry.” That’s important, they were establishing a bond.

     We headed out to the ski lift and even that was terrifying. Don has no fear.  He flew in helicopters all over Chu Lai in Viet Nam. He would sit on a helmet with his feet hanging out of the Huey. He also did roofing and aerial work as an electrician for 30 years. I’m good on a ladder as long as I have one foot on the ground.

     We got a brief tutorial from the enthusiastic crew of guides who all seemed like adrenaline junkies, snow boarders and surfers. One man who wore goggles solemnly intoned “You are all capable of this, but I am sensing fear”. I did not deny it, I couldn’t believe the other people were not scared. I glanced at my wrist band, it read : Sky Rider Tour, No Refunds. My name was not on it and we had been instructed to bring nothing with us.  How will they identify my remains after I go crashing to the Earth? Then he stated that this was the longest, fastest and highest zip line in North America, the first zip was 600 feet from the ground, and 3,000 feet long. If we wanted to bail, even now, we would NOT get our money back. This was not helping my terror. Where was my stunt double?

     We decided to be second in line to zip as waiting any longer would just make the tension rise. While waiting a young boy was watching and asked me if I was going to fall. His mom looked right at me and said “You are going to be fine”. I have remembered her calm assurance every day since then and it has brought  me peace.

     We were instructed to crunch ourselves into a “cannonball” position immediately after our feet left the ground.  When the guide said “GO!” I jumped and went from standing on the ground like a normal person to zipping through the air at 50 miles per hour. I could see nothing as tears clouded my vision and wished I had worn goggles. It was exhilarating but also desperately scary as I had not learned to trust the harness and was hanging onto the cross bar with all my limited strength. I sensed myself slowing down and drifted to a stop several feet from the platform. Tim came out and pulled me in. “Tim, I have never been so happy to see anyone in my entire life”, I told him with no exaggeration at all.

     We criss-crossed our way down the mountain and at one point came to a suspension bridge which I thought would be easy compared to the zip line. We were attached by tether to the bridge’s guide wires and I thought I was doing a smashing job of walking straight down the middle of the bridge until someone, maybe Sasquatch? got on behind me. The bridge started swaying, buckling, waving and undulating in every possible direction. Goggles dude was waiting for me at the end and we kept in eye contact the whole time. I knew he would come and rescue me if necessary but he gave me the space and time I needed to work it out. He told me I had persevered and would be a “better, braver, woman for it”. That was just the kind of growth experience I had hoped for.

     The last zip took us through the trees just like on T.V. and was very soothing after the great heights and speeds we had experienced.  Having a “No Refund” policy was brilliant , sometimes you just need a little extra incentive to get the job done. I searched my soul for something more meaningful about what we were told was an “interactive adventure, not an amusement park ride”, and haven’t come up with anything. I wish I was a better, braver woman but I don’t think I am and I am still afraid of heights. However, every once in awhile I plant my feet firmly on the ground and give thanks for my close contact with the Earth.

Many people have posted videos of this tour on youtube