It might be hard to imagine yourself swinging from limb to limb in the trees, and even harder to imagine doing so with your co-workers.
But Tarzan-and-Jane corporate gatherings are increasingly popular at aerial forests like the Adventure Park at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport.
Wearing a safety harness clipped into a cable system, climbers at the park can zip line through trees and navigate rope courses by crossing from one tree platform to the next. While some 2,000 aerial-forest rope parks exist in Europe, the trend is new to catch on in the United States and in Connecticut. Fewer than 100 parks exist nationwide.
The Bridgeport Adventure Park, which opened in 2012, was the first aerial forest in Connecticut, but it was the quickest park to take off within Outdoor Venture Park”™s portfolio, said company director Anthony Wellman.
With 160 tree platforms, the park spans 5 acres of mature forestland in Bridgeport.
“Business is wonderful,” Wellman said. “The park here has come to speed faster than any of our previous experiences ”¦ People just feel great after they climb in this park and almost everyone learns something about themselves.”
Outdoor Ventures, based in Southport, operates four aerial parks in the country, including the recently opened park in Storrs. In Bridgeport, more than 40,000 climbers visited the park last year, doubling the number of visitors in its initial 2012 year.
School groups, clubs and company outings make up the majority of the park”™s customers, with some traveling from as far away as New York and New Jersey, Wellman said.
Unlike a traditional ropes park used for team building exercises ”” where a group must work together in order to complete an obstacle course ”” an aerial forest is more individualized, Wellman said.
People still travel in teams, but it”™s not as forced as a group experience, he said. There are 11 courses in the park, all at different experience levels.
“It”™s a total feel-good experience ”” physically, emotionally and mentally,” Wellman said. “People are just so excited when they”™re done. They”™re often tired, but they”™re smiling and laughing and get their money”™s worth.”
General admission for three hours of climbing is $49 per adult. Group discounts are available.
Wellman said Outdoor Ventures is building two additional parks in Michigan and Virginia, but plans to keep its headquarters in Connecticut. In November, the company was recognized as a top economic project by the Connecticut Economic Resource Center and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
“It”™s a special thing for Connecticut, right now,” Wellman said. “You”™ll be hearing more about these kinds of parks. They”™re going to start popping up more and more.”
The Adventure Park is currently closed for the winter and will reopen as early as March.
