I have a serious fear of heights; a knee shaking, nausea-inducing fear. I once nearly hiked seven miles in order to avoid having to descend the shale rock face of a 14er that I’d just climbed. I sat at the top for 30 minutes crying like a baby until my husband helped me down, step by terrifying step.
So why do I make myself do stuff like ice climbing and zip lining? For the story. I do it for the story – and, it’s SUPER FUN!
Here’s my story of zip lining at Top of the Rockies earlier this month. This was our second trip to this zip line adventure that’s located just an hour and a half from Denver.
Since our winter visit in 2013, Top of the Rockies has added a couple more lines to their excursion, so of course, we had to go again.
This time around we took my father-in-law, Kurt, who hadn’t been zip lining before. We figured taking him to the zip line with the best views in Colorado was a good place to start.
A family of three from Denver joined us making a group of six. After the practice area we loaded into the van for a bumpy ride up the hill to the first zip.
Halfway up the mountain, we were stopped by a train. That’s right, a train. The Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad runs right through the zip line property and on this day it was delivering a large party of zipliners. One of the packages offered by Top of the Rockies is a train and zip line excursion that includes lunch.
Once at the top my legs began their predictable tremble. The first couple zips are always the scariest for me, but as I gazed out at the fantastic view I felt a tiny bit better. I did the first zip as I always do; screaming my head off all the way.
The wildflowers are off the hook in the Colorado mountains this year, so our short hikes between zip lines were sprinkled with yellow, orange, red, white and purple.
The grin never left my fathers-in-law’s face the entire time on the mountain.
I love Top of the Rockies because each zip line has its own character. Some glide you gently over streams, while others whip you wildly through stands of evergreens.
Sometimes you hold hands with your sweetheart.
The last zip, officially called The Big Nugget, is incredibly long and frightening. There are four side-by-side zip lines all leading to an enormous tower. Once again my knees were knocking and my palms were sweaty. Thankfully, Leann, the mom of the Denver family, gave me a pep talk and then we raced across, running down the ramp and leaping into the thinly oxygenated air.
I made to the platform in one piece. I’d made it through another zip line experience and I was exhilarated despite my fear of heights, I love flying through the air like a bird (a very loud bird).
Check out this video of me and The Big Nugget:
Thank you to Top of the Rockies Zip Line for hosting us on this excursion. And thank you to the awesome guides who make this fun experience even more fun!
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