Adventure Rope Gear

You might say Adan Caraballo is an adrenaline junkie. Actually, you definitely would. “I’m always hang-gliding, skydiving and jet-skiing,” says the 49-year-old graphic designer, whose recent vacations have taken him bungee-jumping and to the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. So how does he keep his body primed for such thrills? By traversing wobbly logs and pulling himself up cargo nets every other weekend.

Caraballo holds a season pass at Terrapin Adventures, an outdoor amusement park that opened in spring 2009 in the appropriately named town of Savage in Howard County. It has four main attractions: a 330-foot zip line, a giant swing that soars nearly 40 feet in the air, a 43-foot-high climbing tower and, most distinctively, a three-story ropes course.

Once limited to corporate and camper bonding, ropes courses have recently become a walk-in-friendly option for anyone seeking a heightened exercise experience. Go Ape, which has 26 locations in the United Kingdom, opened its first U.S. course in the Lake Needwood area of Rock Creek Regional Park near Rockville in May. And Calleva, a Poolesville-based company that has run ropes courses for groups for more than a decade, is about to open its first public facility at National Harbor in Prince George’s County.

Visitors at all three will face similar challenges. You cross a series of precarious bridges — slender planks, unsteady tightropes, platforms punctuated with gaping holes that reveal the ground far below — to ascend to the top level of a course.

Although you must be reasonably active to be able to do such things, the idea is that the ropes courses are accessible to almost anyone who’s willing to cling and scamper. As long as you’re old enough and tall enough and can handle light exertion, you’ll survive.

That’s because for any of these diversions, you’re in a harness that’s clipped into safety lines at all times. “People can only fall so far,” says Matt Markoff, one of Calleva’s directors. Matt Baker, whose title at Terrapin Adventures is chief adventure officer, says the park has hosted birthday parties for 8-year-olds and ones for 60-year-olds. A 90-year-old recently took on the treetop thrills at Go Ape.

But if you’re like Caraballo, you’ll follow the route of advanced adventurers who ignore handholds and attempt challenges backward, sideways, on one leg or with their eyes closed. Any of those modifications can turn the outing into a serious sweat fest for even the fittest visitors.

Caraballo, who lives in Alexandria, considers the 1 1/2 to 2 hours he spends each time at Terrapin Adventures a critical part of his exercise routine. Its woodsy location near a stream, he says, “feels better than being in a gym.” Pulling himself up each level of the ropes course works his upper body; staying steady while he crosses shaky obstacles keeps his core strength in check; and jumping between platforms boosts his power. Plus, it trains his brain to be ready for just about anything. “You lose fear and develop confidence,” he says.

For many visitors, it’s the mental tests that prove more daunting than the physical ones. “We’ve had people freeze on the zip line platform for 30 minutes,” says Baker, who prides himself and his staff on being able to talk people through their fears and help them accomplish what they never thought was possible.

Once you have leapt into midair to grab a rope, swung into a net and made it across a series of loops that may force you into the splits, you’re more likely to crave more outdoor activities, says Go Ape’s Dan D’Augustino. “A lot of people say, ‘I liked the harness and the carabiners. Now I want to try rock climbing.’ It encourages them to do something more physical,” he adds.

Devin Maier, 29, of Bethesda visited Go Ape two weeks ago. He and his younger brother played around the ropes course in the morning, and then he used local bike trails to pedal the 26 miles to his job as general manager of the Fitness First health club in Arlington. “It’s a workout that creeps up on you,” says Maier, who was inspired to cross bridges hands-free in the name of silly sibling rivalry.

With the National Harbor course, Markoff also hopes to inspire visitors to do more than just soar. He wants them to get sore. The nautical design — it resembles two capsized pirate ships and a lighthouse — lends itself to sailing-themed terminology, history and activities. And after tottering between “masts,” it’s just a short walk down to the water, where Calleva offers boating lessons. “You’re not going to spend a full day at the ropes course, but you’ll stay in nature,” Markoff says. “To us, this is a steppingstone to learning about yourself.”

Maybe you’ll decide you want to try the running of the bulls. Or maybe camping sounds like enough of an adventure. A little daring can do a body good, but without a harness and safety lines, you need to be careful.