Rescued on the high ropes

Last night the Scenic Caves ecotour staff were invited by Blue Mountain to try their Timber Challenge High Ropes. At the Caves we have our treetop walk which is fun but is simply a nature walk high in the trees whereas the Timber Challenge High Ropes are more of an obstacle course walk.
It starts off with the fitting of a body harness and helmet followed by ground school where you learn how to work the safety clips and pulley. The two safety clips were very high tech. Only one clip would open at a time so when transfering from one obstacle to the other you would remove the clip that opened, clamp onto the new safety cable and then place the clip over a sensor which released the other clip allowing it to be removed from the first cable and transferred. Very cool and it meant that you could never be caught out with no clips attached to the safety cable.
There are three levels of difficulty on the high ropes and they use the same colour code as the ski runs, green for easy, blue for more difficult and black for advanced. The greens and blues have some fun obstacles but the real test is when you start the blacks. After climbing a ladder where the steps spin on a rope making it unbelievably hard to get up to the platform your first obstacle is a set of 8 ropes with 8 inch square blocks on the bottom for footing. The ropes are knotted higher up so you can get a good grip. Just getting on the first rope and trying to stand on that small block of wood was tough enough. Then you have to grab the next rope about 3 feet over and move to it while trying to stand on its block which is swinging all over the place. Very difficult. I was doing OK but I was getting caught up in the ropes I had already used which meant I had to stop and untangle myself resulting in a lot of energy expended which I would need to make it across. Suffice to say I didn't make it and ended up sitting down on a block 2 ropes from the end.
This meant I had to be rescued by the wonderful Alexa who came out on the safety cable and then used a 3 in 1 to lift me to the platform level and then pull me across. During the rescue I got very up close and personal with Alexa's crotch which at one point was about a foot away from my face as the crow flies. I bit my tongue..........and said nothing.
All in all it was a great time and I would recommend it to anyone who is adventurous and in good shape. It is completely different from the nature walk at the Caves which just about anyone can do. Both are great in their own way.