High Gravity Adventures is now open for business and is celebrating this Saturday, April 11 with an official Grand Opening event combining aerial adventure, food, music, giveaways, and more. The adventure course is located in between Boone and Blowing Rock, right next to Tweetsie Railroad.
High Gravity Adventures is an aerial adventure park specializing in unique and active outdoor recreation activities for ages 5 and up. Each guest can explore and climb through 75 different aerial elements requiring various levels of physical and mental stamina at heights that range from 15 to 50 feet.
Before guests enter the vertical world of sky bridges, cargo nets, and swinging loops, trained staff members give each guest a full-body harness, helmet, and safety tethers, as well as an orientation on the ground, called Ground School. This introduction gives guests the information needed to move around the aerial park. Once permitted to enter the park, guests choose which elements they want to pursue and how high in the air they want to explore. High Gravity Adventures staff are always moving around the course monitoring guests as they explore the challenges before them.
The High Gravity Adventures Grand Opening will take place this Saturday, April 11. Doors will open for guests at 10 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m., with special events taking place between the hours of 1 and 6 p.m.
Aerial adventure parks have seen a dramatic rise in popularity in recent years as people seek active and accessible outdoor recreation experiences closer to home. “While zip lines are the most publically recognized trend within our industry, they offer a more passive ride experience when compared to the more active participation required to navigate an aerial adventure park,” said Carson Rivers, High Gravity Adventures’ Vice President.
Rivers added, “parks like High Gravity Adventures offer a different experience as you traverse cargo nets, find your balance across log bridges, and learn to test and trust your abilities in a way that engages the whole body and mind.”
At High Gravity Adventures, young children and those who prefer staying closer to the ground won’t have to stay at home, as a specially designed kids’ course keeps the experience low to the ground with easier to navigate challenges. Planned future phases include a sixty-five foot “freefall” jump through the center of the course and several interconnecting zip lines in the trees and meadows surrounding Tweetsie Railroad.
“While not formally a part of Tweetsie Railroad, we couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to work closely with the High Country’s premier attraction,” said Rivers. “High Gravity Adventures has its own base of operations right next to the Tweetsie Railroad park entrance, and it will be another great reason for families to visit this unique destination.”
While High Gravity Adventures is new, the company behind it all has deep roots in the High Country. In 1992, Ken Jacquot and Steve Owen founded Blue Ridge Learning Centers in Todd with a mission to create unique experiences that promote deliberate decision-making and conscious actions in both individuals and organizations.
Four years later, Challenge Towers was conceived as a division of Blue Ridge Learning Centers with a focus on designing and constructing innovative ropes courses through value-driven practices. Over the last twenty years, Challenge Towers has become a top builder of ropes courses and adventure parks throughout the U.S. and abroad while maintaining their corporate headquarters in Todd. Adding to their list of accomplishments, Challenge Towers won the award for Outstanding Structure Design in 2014 at the annual international meeting of the Association for Challenge Course Technology for an aerial adventure park installed in West Yellowstone, Montana.
“We have been designing and building ropes courses and adventure parks for a number of years, and I felt it was time to bring this type of active recreation experience to our hometown,” said Ken Jacquot, owner and president of Challenge Towers and High Gravity Adventures.
For more information about High Gravity Adventures, visit their website, www.highgravityadventures.com, “like” them on Facebook, and follow them on Instagram and Twitter to learn more about the aerial adventures waiting for you!
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