Monday, November 23, 2015

Fashionista's Escapades: Skytrex Adventure

This morning we decided to do a little bit of skytrekking at Skytrex Adventure, Shah Alam. Skytrex is kind of an obstacle course park and there are three levels to choose from, Little Adventure for beginners, Big Thrill for intermediate level and Extreme Challenge for the advanced level. I initially wanted to try out their Little Adventure as I wasn't sure of my ability and stamina. However, some of our friends had been there a few weeks ago and commented that Little Adventure was too easy and would most probably be better suited for kids rather than adults. Thus, we decided to take on the big guns and opted for the advanced level i.e. Extreme Challenge.


Me, Azima and Tazmeen, post Extreme Challenge. I am surprised we survived! 

Skytrex is located within Taman Botani Negara, Shah Alam, and getting there was not difficult. When you get there, there's a parking fee of about RM2 (or RM3 if I'm not mistaken) and park conservation fees of RM3 per person. These fees are not included in your Skytrex tickets. Once you have parked, the Skytrex pickup truck will then shuttle you from Taman Botani's carpark to their centre (which is about 5 minutes drive away). 
We chose the 8.30 am session because on weekdays there is only one session available for Extreme Challenge. For each session, there's a maximum limit of 25 participants per session and according to their instructors, they would try to ensure that there's an instructor per every 5 person on this track. For our session, there were roughly about 15 people and I could see there were about 3 instructors at different checkpoints. 



Tazmeen, Azima and me right before we went on our training circuit. 

First, we were given a briefing at the registration counter, and we bought disposable gloves (RM5 each), rented a medium sized locker (RM3 with RM10 deposit) and rented a bottle carrier so that we're able to bring our bottle on the course (RM2 with RM10 deposit) and were told to go to the loo before we go on the course. This is because, there's no toilet while you're on the obstacle course and the obstacle course itself would most probably take about 3 hours, thus, it makes sense to go and empty your bladder before you go on your way. 

Then we were given our harness (which the staff kindly helped us to put them on and tighten them as well) and then went off to the next briefing before starting our obstacle course. There's also a short training circuit which we needed to complete and this is where the instructors taught us how to use the clickit and pulley which we will be using. The training circuit consists of three activities, climbing up the rope ladder, traversing from tree to tree and the flying fox.

Here are some photos of the activities that we did for the Extreme Challenge:


Climb up the rope ladder. 

There are four rope ladders in all, first is during the training session, the second one is right after the flying fox from the training circuit, the third one is right halfway the obstacle course and the last one (which is climbing down), is almost towards the end of the obstacle course. I find the rope ladder to be quite difficult as the rope sways a little when you're trying go up the ladder, and the height can really get to you (I experienced a slight acrophobia sensation while climbing up) and because of the harness that you are wearing, let's just say that it's not that easy to find your footing.


Flying fox.

The flying fox is definitely one of the best parts of this obstacle. There are about four or five flying foxes that you will be on, the first one is from the training circuit, the second one is right at the beginning of the course, i.e. the second activity right after climbing the rope ladder, the remaining three is in the middle of the course. I was quite apprehensive at first because but let me just say that from my recent experience, the equipments at Skytrex are well taken care of and I find them to be very secure and safe for users and climbers alike. 


Some of the obstacles include walking inside a giant net bridge.

This activity is not that difficult for me. However, the rope shifts as you move (as your weight on the rope shifts, the rope will readjust itself to distribute the weight) so tread slowly and take small steps. 



Pipe planks.

This is among the toughest activity, in my opinion. If I'm not mistaken there's only one pipe plank activity and even then, it's quite a challenge to complete this activity. You need to sway the planks slightly so that you can move your feet to the plank in front of you while at the same time maintain your balance, have a firm grip on the ropes and also maintain a steady balance so that you do not tip the planks too much. Did I mention that the planks are of uneven size (there are small and large planks) and unevenly stacked (i.e. some are placed slightly below the others).


Traversing via rope. 

This activity was also not that difficult. If I am not mistaken, there are two or three of these throughout the course. The only difficulty is that after a while (especially halfway through the obstacle course), your energy levels have gone down and your arms get a bit tired of being held up over your head. 


V Ropes.

This is also one of the toughest activities to complete for me. There are two of the V Ropes that you need to complete. You need to swing the rope slightly so that you can reach the rope in front of you (i.e. catch hold of it using your feet) and then move forward. I felt like one of those circus trainers on this one. 


Climbing down the rope ladder. 

This was the final rope ladder *phew*. The only difficulty here is that it's quite a distance down and you have to be careful in making sure of your footing (because it's not easy to see where to put your feet) but overall activity was quite okay for me as well. 


And we did it! Hurrah! 

Okay, truth be told, Extreme Challenge is not easy, so proceed with caution. And unfortunately I have never done the Big Thrill (the intermediate challenge) so I'm not able to comment on whether you should try the intermediate challenge first.

However, I do recommend for you to try it out. After all, YOLO! (that means You Only Live Once, by the way *duh*).

In terms of cost, the Extreme Challenge costs RM58 (inclusive of GST) but not inclusive of the additional costs (i.e. locker, bottle holder, and gloves) as mentioned previously. The gloves are especially useful for all the activities (without it I know my hands would have blisters by now) and if you already have a bottle with a strap, you may bring that if you like. If you'd like to know more on Skytrex, do head on to their website [here].

To many more adventures to come.


xoxo Mrs Fashionista

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