I can’t believe I did it

By DANA DITTMAR

Dana Dittmar

I did it. I have the pictures to prove it. And yet, I still can’t believe I did it.

When I was about 8 years old, my parents took me to Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.  There’s an attraction there called the Mile High Swinging Bridge, and it is exactly that. It’s a rope and board bridge that spans two mountain tops with nothing below for about a mile. My father took me out on it. Of course, I had a panic attack midway and it took both parents and two rangers to rescue me. I’ve had a phobia of heights ever since.  That’s why I don’t fly anywhere.

But on Monday, a good friend of mine informed me she was going zip-lining with her sister, who was in town visiting from Illinois. I agreed to go with them. What was I thinking?

We went to Empower Adventures in Oldsmar.  After a lengthy registration process, our two guides, Jim and Trina showed us how to put on our harnesses and hard hats. Now 20 pounds heavier, we were told to climb 65 feet into the air via a spiral staircase to a platform that was barely 10 feet by 10 feet.  There were seven of us in the group. Molly and Andrew are a young couple who were on their annual date day, as they both had President’s Day off.  Robby and Jessie were brother and sister middle-schoolers.  And there was Cathy, Meg and me.

By the time I got to the top of the platform, my body was shaking so violently it was noticeable to all. Robbie the brat laughed. Molly and Andrew were empathetic.  The guides assured me I could do this.  I stared out across the cable that ran from our platform to the one 400 feet away and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.  The two kids went first.  Seeing that, I was determined not to chicken out.

My hands were sweaty on the handlebars. What if my hands slipped off and I fell? Oh yeah. Attached by a cable and sitting on a harness. I just sat down and picked my feet up. All of a sudden, I was careening through the air to the second platform, trees far below me. Jim, the guide, grabbed my harness and secured me until it was my turn to zip to the third platform. This time was less scary, and my legs began to get their strength back. I actually had fun on the third and fourth zips.

But then I realized the fifth leg of the tour was a swinging bridge over water. And it was 200-feet long. I was that 8-year-old kid again, and I started to panic. Jim led me over it,  walking backwards the entire time, talking to me to distract me from what I was doing. One handhold on the rope at a time, I made it. And the entire team behind me cheered.

The last leg was the longest and fastest at 650 feet. But by now I was ready to enjoy it. At the end of two hours, I was on a total adrenaline high and so proud of what I had done. I’m not over my phobia of heights.

But yes, I will go zip-lining again.