Excalibur Adventure Park Via Feratta

My Day at Excalibur Adventure Park – Activity 1

Excitement abounded. I was with friends, the weather cleared up, the day was perfect. Then disappointment set in. Oh it wasn’t the park or the staff or anything external. It was ME!!! The Excalibur Adventure Park Via Feratta stumped me.

For those of you who don’t know about a via feratta here is an explanation from Wikipedia.

A via ferrata is a protected climbing route, essentially an “iron way,” found in mountainous regions, especially the Alps. It features fixed cables, ladders, and other steel fixtures that climbers can clip into using a special harness and lanyards to stay safe while scaling the rock. This allows individuals with varying experience levels to access challenging terrain that would otherwise be inaccessible. (Well to this girl, it was still inaccessible.)

Oh it wasn’t the park, or the staff or anything external. It was ME!!! I got all suited up in my harness and helmet. Went through the training session and even got started up the rails to climb the mountainside.

So far so good. I got hooked on to the first level and couldn’t make it past the first level. I needed leg strength I didn’t have. To go from one foot post to the next involved a 90 degree shift in position with a 2’ increase in height.

Decision Time

Decision time. We had been told that once you start there’s no exit point. So do I really push myself on the first one and not be able to do the rest of the trail activity? Or do I back out now.

I stood there, on the 4th peg running this Decision through my mind. I don’t want to hold anybody up and I don’t want to quit. So what to do???

If we had been the only ones in the group my Decision may have been different. But we had about 20 people in our group and I was 5th in line.

Walk of Shame

So I came down off the wall, did the walk of shame past the other people in line. Embarrassment was strong. I went back to the meeting place, sitting and drinking coffee and a Billy Webb shot while waiting to go on the zipline.

Honestly? I thought I could do this activity but for me, lack of leg strength did me in. I want to improve my strength and go back and give it a go.

Oh BTW, free bitters today. Made out of bitters from the Billy Webb tree (insert photo) coconut rum, regular rum, cinnamon and vanilla. It was good/delicious.

Go For It!

During one of the activities we did that day one of the Belizean ladies I was speaking with was impressed that I was up there doing it. Based on the ages of the people in my group. We ranged from 51 to 75. So don’t be afraid to do it but do take care to know your own limitations. And just get out there.