STAFF REVIEW: TREETOP ADVENTURE IN MILTON KEYNES

Setting off on a sunny afternoon from Brighton, Rina and I were thrilled that we had been invited along to participate in Treetop Extreme’s high ropes course. Based at Willen Lake in Milton Keynes, the centre was easily reached as it is just off the M1 motorway, and has plenty of signage to direct you. The lake itself is beautiful, with a wide variety of other activities available such as archery, wakeboarding and one of the biggest aqua inflatable courses in the country – so well worth an explore! There’s also a number of hotels close by if you’re planning a weekend break.

There are a couple of car parks situated around the lake, all within walking distance of Treetop Extreme. As the course is based on the South Bank, we parked in the South Bay car park. It’s worth noting that these car parks do charge for parking, so remember to bring a few coins along with you for this. As we had a little extra time before our session was due to begin, Rina and I had a stroll around the lake to take in some of the scenery. There were various picnic benches around, so there are lots of places to perch and have some lunch. There’s also bicycles available to hire, which if you have the time, I’d really recommend having a ride around the lake on!

As the time came for our session to begin, we headed over to the Treetop Extreme course and were welcomed by the lovely Tom, JP and Martha. To get us started, they gave us some waivers to read through and sign. Don’t panic, it’s just usual health and safety procedures - you are going to be swinging from platforms of up to 35 feet, after all! With our waivers signed, we stored our bags, and any other belongings we didn’t want to be taking up with us safely in the cabin (this is manned at all times). It was now time to get kitted out!

Tom ran us through each piece of equipment we would be using, and explained how we would be attached to a state-of-the-art continual belay system. The brilliant thing about the continual system is that whilst you’re on the course, there isn’t any detaching or reattaching - you are hooked up the entire time. This means there’s less time worrying about your safety, and more time to focus on the adventure ahead! Later, when we were up on the course Tom demonstrated how safe we were on this system, by running through an exercise in which we simply sat back into our harness, dangling from the system. This sounds scary, but actually made us feel much better knowing the structure could easily handle our weight, and feel secure in doing so.

Now we were suited and booted, it was time to head over to the first part of our challenge: The 10ft climbing wall! Treetop Extreme features 3 different courses altogether: Explorer, Adventure and Extreme, and a Treetop Adventure voucher will buy you access to one of these courses. They range from Explorer being the easiest, to Extreme being the most challenging. The climbing wall is included in the Adventure and Extreme levels, while the amazing ‘Jump’ freefall simulator is included in all three. There are also speakers dotted around the site everywhere, so that you can listen to some tunes whilst you swing! This is an excellent addition to the course, and definitely adds to the enjoyment of the entire experience.

Beginning at the climbing wall, we could see there were three coloured routes:  green, red and blue. Green was the easier route, with larger, more frequent ‘rocks’, while blue was the toughest with smaller, sparser ones to grip onto. Having not been rock climbing since I was much younger, I leapt at the chance to go on the green route, and Rina chose red – a middle ground between the green and blue. As we began to climb, we realised it was going to take a little more upper body strength than we originally thought… Once we made it to the top, JP was ready and waiting to help us up onto the ledge. Now on top of the platform, we were getting some amazing views of the lake already!

Rina and I decided to go for the Adventure level, the course Tom recommended to us, which consists of 16 obstacles and 2 zip wires, all at 15 feet off the ground. This level included a whole range of different obstacles throughout, some with stepping stones, some with tight ropes, and even some where you just have to take the leap and jump from one platform to the other! Looking back, the obstacles where you have to take the leap were the scariest, but definitely offered the biggest adrenaline rush. Another one of the highlights were the zip lines. When approaching, there’s a large rope suspended in front of you – this is what you need to grab a hold of and jump onto, in order to swing across into a large climbing net! The jumps can seem daunting at first, but trust me, they’re worth it. As we came to the end of the Adventure course, we returned to the tower - the Adventure and Extreme courses act like a circuit, so you end up where you began on the same tower that the rock climbing is on. 

We were lucky enough to have enough time on our hands, so we also had a go at the Extreme level, towering a whopping 35 feet above the ground! (The course is £20 per level, and subject to availability). As we made our way up the steps and toward the beginning of the highest level, I wondered what we’d gotten ourselves into, and told myself just not to look down! Being a big fan of heights, Rina was in her element and raring to go at the first obstacle. I, however, took a moment to have a mini pep talk before I was ready to go. 35 feet certainly is a long way up, after all! Tom reassured us that many of the obstacles were of a similar difficulty to what we had just completed, and that the main thing to overcome was the height which we would soon get used to. As we made our way around the top level, what he said was certainly true – after a little while of climbing, jumping and leaping on obstacles 35 feet in the air you really do get used to it! It was fascinating to see how we were able to adapt to it in a fairly short space of time. If you’re wanting a real adrenaline rush, I can’t recommend the Extreme level enough for a fantastic treetop thrill. Coming to the end of the course and arriving back onto the tower once more, Rina and I both felt proud to have accomplished something that initially felt daunting - but the fun wasn’t over yet!

As we headed up the final set of stairs on the tower, it was now time for the final part of the course: The 13-metre free fall simulator. Tom let us know that this part of the course is all about taking the leap, and not to worry if we topple over at the bottom (as many people do). Earlier that afternoon, we had seen JP come down the simulator, landing easily on his feet and looking like an absolute pro, so thought to ourselves, how bad could it be? Rina was geared up to go first, and with an encouraging ‘1,2,3 JUMP’, she leapt off the ledge for the free fall. There’s no pressure to jump straight away, but it certainly helps as the longer you are up there, the more you think about it! The jump was incredible – I’m not the biggest fan of heights, but I’m so glad that I faced a fear and took the leap as the adrenaline rush is unmatched. As you can see from the video, neither Rina nor I managed to land on our feet, but we did have a good giggle watching each other toppling over!

Overall, we had a brilliant time with Treetop Extreme and would both love to visit again one day. What’s best is that there’s something for everyone - this is a fantastic experience for any adventurous little ones, anyone hoping to overcome a fear of heights or good old adrenaline junkies! 

Thank you for reading, and a huge thank you to Tom, JP and Martha for looking after us so well. We really had a fantastic time and cannot wait to visit again. To check out a full video of our experience, and see every climb, swing, leap (and fall!) click here!