Zipping Through The Berkshires

Shannon, disguised behind sunglasses and an attractive orange helmet, rocking the zip-line

Flying through a tree-top canopy at 35 miles per hour while suspended 50 feet in the air by a harness and a cable is one great way to experience the beauty of the Berkshires, or really anywhere for that matter.  Zip-lining is something we wanted to try ever since we first saw it on the Amazing Race several years ago.  Now it was our turn.

The Deerfield Valley Canopy Tour starts with a brief tutorial covering such trivial things as how to break and how to perform a “self rescue”, blah, blah, blah.  After practicing the techniques on the zip-lining equivalent of a bunny slope, we head up the mountain for the real deal.  Our group piles in to a 4 x 4 vehicle that speeds up a half-mile of twisting, rutted, dirt roads as it makes the 500 foot vertical ascent to the beginning of the course.  This beats the crap out of a ski lift as far as getting up a mountain goes.  If the entire trip is as much fun as this, we’re in for a great day.

Rappelling is the only way to get down

The 4 x 4 stops a little shy of our final destination, but after a short hike and a quick ladder climb to a tree stand, we’re finally in position for our first real zip.  Meghan, one of our guides, goes first and gets in position so she can signal us noobs when to start braking.  If you slow down too soon you’ll stop before reaching the other tree stand.  Slow down too late, and, well, there is a tree to meet you on the downhill side of the cable.  No biggie.

Our other guide, conveniently also named Meghan, hooks my harness to the zip cable and gives me the green light to go.  I thought I’d have some trepidation about stepping off a completely solid tree stand into the nothingness below, but it is different than I expected.  Most of my weight is already supported by the harness so picking my feet up feels more like sitting on a swing than stepping off a ledge.  There is no moment of free fall.  Instead of plunging downward, I start moving forward.  Gaining speed, the tree-top canopy becomes a tunnel of green blur all around me.  Too soon, I see the platform ahead with Meghan signaling for me to break.  “This is Awesome!” I yell to those still waiting on the other side.  “It gets better” encourages Meghan. Somehow, she always knows exactly what to say.

Sky bridges connect adjacent platforms

And she isn’t lying.  The zips get progressively longer, and faster, with the longest cable stretching the length of one and a half football fields.  This is crazy fun.

After a couple of zips we’re all feeling pretty confident.  But at this tree stand I don’t see our next zip cable.  I see a rope hanging from a pulley.  We have to rappel down the tree to our next platform.  Sweet!  Meghan gives us some basic instructions and before long I’m leaning back over a 15 foot drop trusting that a complete stranger will lower me to safety.  She did.

After about three hours we complete the entire course, including eleven zips, three rappels, two “sky bridges,” and a 4 x 4 ride.  Feeling exhilarated and a little exhausted I head back to my car determined to do this again someday soon.