Not too long ago Melissa Michler’s perch, 50 feet up in the trees at Northwest Trek, was reserved for birds and squirrels.

But the wildlife park near Eatonville is evolving from its traditional animal-watching experience to something a bit more challenging.

From the wood platform where Michler stood Wednesday afternoon, finishing the Zip Wild challenge course and returning to solid ground would require summoning her inner Indiana Jones.

She’d have to walk across a wobbly, sparsely planked suspension bridge, balance her way along a cable tightrope, navigate a swinging bridge the size of a surfboard and then descend to earth via zip-line.

“It is so much fun,” said Michler, the course manager. “It’s a really exciting way to experience Trek.”

The adventure course, which includes six zip-lines and various treetop obstacles, opens to the public Saturday morning. The course, which will take about 45 minutes to navigate, is expected to be wildly popular. Course general manager Jennifer Robinson said reservations, which can be made at NWTrek.org, are highly recommended.

Northwest Trek draws about 185,000 visitors per year, said Donna Powell, the park’s business and administrative service manager. She hopes Zip Wild will lure as many as 200 more people per day.

Zip Wild is more than a typical zip-line experience, in which people zip from tree to tree like, as one Northwest Trek staffer said Thursday, “a sack of potatoes.” It’s also an aerial obstacle course and is not for everybody.

Just getting to the first zip-line requires climbing a 30-foot wall. And before even lining up at the wall, participants must navigate a shorter, lower practice course and sign away their right to sue in the event of “death, paralysis” or other injuries.

Obstacles include climbing a cargo net and walking along a shaky zigzag bridge barely the width of a hiking boot.

“On some of the obstacles, we all had wobbly legs on our first try,” said Michler, who now traverses the course easily in a matter of minutes.

While the challenge course is very different from anything Northwest Trek has done in its 37-year history, Powell thinks it’s a natural fit.

“While Trek is a very passive experience for many people, this allows them to see a part of Trek that you never get to see – the bird’s-eye view as opposed to the ground view,” she said.

Metro Parks Tacoma has made it a priority for all of its parks and facilities to have an element of recreation, Powell said, but it’s a mandate that proved difficult for Northwest Trek to meet without affecting its traditional experience.

The challenge course was built, was paid for and will be operated by Deep Forest Challenge, a French company. While a couple of trees were removed and some short access paths had to be carved through the brush, the environmental impact of the challenge course is minimal, Powell said.

“It is a way for us to essentially rent the air,” she said. “It doesn’t impact the forest. It doesn’t impact the visitors. And it doesn’t impact that experience that is the rest of the park. Actually, I think it attracts another demographic that we haven’t been able to attract.”

Powell is referring to visitors looking for a more active and challenging experience. Still, she hopes those people will stick around to walk the park and take in Trek’s iconic tram tour. Park admission ($16 for Pierce County residents) is required in addition to the $39.95 challenge course fee.

While Zip Wild users wear safety harnesses and must remain clipped into safety cables as they climb and zip through the trees, participants are not guided along the route as they might be on traditional zip-line courses.

“They are not baby-sat,” Robinson said. “They’re on their own.”

Staff members will be stationed at ground level and in the trees, however, watching to make sure people follow safety protocol.

“We’re going to be pretty strict because it’s a safety thing,” Robinson said.

The independence is by design.

“You feel like you’ve accomplished something and that you we didn’t hold your hand,” Robinson said. “That’s why they call it a challenge course.”

The course is inspected and permitted by the state Department of Labor and Industries.

Deep Forest plans to expand Zip Wild by August with a more challenging “Extreme” course that will take participants 78 feet off the ground. The expansion also will include an easier, child-friendly course. The current course is only open to people 10 and older.

“I think people are really going to enjoy it,” Michler said. “I’ve done it several times now, and it’s fun every time.”

craig.hill@thenewstribune.com
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