As you know if you are a regular reader of my blog I work at Bluestone National Park Resort. We opened a new area of the resort on Friday 19th July 2019 called Serendome (Seren is Welsh for Star), a 7000m2 giant umbrella that covers a multitude of activities (some paid, some free) as well as places to eat, drink and a massive theatre (some 400 seats opening for incredible shows this November).
One of the main attractions is Skywalk (essentially a massive obstacle course some 7 towers and 24 climbing stations with many moving elements including a bicycle!.
They also have skyWalk Mini which is not as far off the ground for the younger children and those not comfortable at height, this course also has a wheelchair accessible course and I had the job of being the first disabled person to test it out.
So there is a special wheelchair that you have to transfer into, you are buckled up into a harness and the wheelchair is harnessed onto you and two harnesses are attached to you and the wheelchair which are used to keep you safe whilst on the course and also whilst on the zip wire.
So what’s it like ? Well the first thing that you have to do is get onto the first platform which involves a ramp to push yourselves up with little runners about every metre to bunny hop over, once you have done this (which is fine if you are an active manual wheelchair user but would be difficult if you are not used to pushing yourself) you are on the first platform and have to go round it (the instructor will detach the harnesses from the first part of the course and re attach to the next, all while ensuring that 1 is always connected so you can’t fall of).
Once round the platform you get to the next bit which is a giant seesaw (but admittedly a very tame on).
Again you go round the platform (whilst being unhooked and rehooked up) to the hardest bit of the course a platform with lots of bits of wood attached at unusual angles that you need to bunny hop over, normally bunny hops are not a problem for me but of course they are not at angles and laid out so that getting one wheel over means the other wheel is trapped. This is a challenging element and the instructor is there is help if (or probably when) you get stuck and can’t seem to progress further.
Once you’ve completed the bumpy element then again you go round a platform and are hooked up to the zip wire. Top tip here is when you land to try and lean forward and not backwards as you don’t want the wheelchair going backwards (no anti tips but you are still connected so can’t come out) and that is it.
So, what is my impressions, well I think it will depend on whether you have been a wheelchair user all your life and whether you have done other zip wires / thrill seeking activities before. Before I was in a wheelchair I loved rollercoasters, did zip wires that that were 40ft up and enjoyed being thrilled, this course is relatively tame for me but I still enjoyed the zipwire because not being on the ground and being suspended is still something that shouldn’t be the case in a wheelchair as a matter of course (unless you’re a stunt person and considerably braver than me)
There are of course some limitations, a 125Kg weight limitation (including weight of the Wheelchair and you cannot be pregnant) To see what else is available see video below and link to Srendome page on the Bluestone Website