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Soaring
through the treetops / Tree Frog Canopy Tours offers
unique experience
August 2, 2010 - By JIM BREWER T-G
Staff Writer
LOUDONVILLE -- The Mohican Area's newest, and perhaps
most exciting, recreational attraction, Tree Frog Canopy
Tours on Wally Road Scenic Byway, opened for business
Sunday.
Among the celebrities on the maiden run at Tree Frog,
which offers 4,025 feet of zipline adventures on a 21/2-
to 3-hour tour, were Bob Yun and Pat Crow, directors
of the Loudonville-Mohican and Knox County convention
and visitors bureaus, which will do a large amount of
publicity for the new attraction.
"It certainly didn't disappoint," a breathless
Yun said as he finished the first guest trip on the
$750,000 facility about eight miles south of Loudonville
on Wally Road Scenic Byway.
"Traveling at 30 miles per hour while hanging 125
feet off the ground is quite a thrill," Yun said.
"It's just you, the treetops and the air -- almost
like skydiving without a parachute," Yun said with
enthusiasm. "I have seen the Earth from a 747,
a single engine plane, a helicopter and a hot air balloon,
but those are nothing compared with seeing the forest
floor from a zipline.
"Riding on it was a rush, made more meaningful
with all we learned about the incredible biodiversity
of the area's plants and animals which was part of the
trip.
"And I was very impressed with the Tree Frog staff,
which took very good care of our group."
Tree Frog Canopy Tours will have weekday tours leaving
at 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. each day, and weekend tours
every half hour between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Cost is $85 per person on weekends and holidays, $75
on weekdays and a Wednesday children's special of $50
per child, ages 10 to 17, when accompanied by a full-paying
parent or guardian.
Bruce Baker, co-founder of Tree Frog with Jordan Christiansen,
noted "an exhaustive search of northcentral Ohio
led to the discovery of a hidden basin that meets all
the criteria for a 'world class' zipline canopy tour.
Bonsai Design, a leading canopy tour designer, installed
the adventurous zipline track through the hillside woodlands.
With it, we feel we offer Top 10 U.S. canopy tour.
"A trek through the tree tops while suspended from
a dual cable zipline is an opportunity for a fun, unique
and educational outdoor experience you will never forget,"
Baker said. "Our tour leads adventurers through
the tree tops by means of ziplines, sky bridges and
rapels connected to platforms suspended in the trees.
This tour is a 'must do' for first-time and experienced
zipline enthusiasts."
Tours consist of up to eight guests and two professional
guides per departure time. All tours are escorted by
trained guides to ensure safety.
Before departure, guests are given a safety briefing
and outfitted with safety gear that includes a body
harness, pulleys, helmet and gloves. After the safety
briefing, participants board a special four-wheel drive
vehicle for the trip to the top of Sundance Hill --
the starting point for the tour.
After ground school, guests cross a short suspended
entry bridge to the first tree platform. The first zip
is a short one designed to make guests feel accustomed
to zipping through the tree tops. Subsequent zips and
bridges are longer, higher and faster. Participants
also will rapel from the tree platforms at the mid-point
and end of the tour.
Tours include training and transport. |
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Tree Frog Canopy Tours I 21899
Wally Road, Glenmont, OH 44628
I 740-599-2662 I
Email
Us
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