When I was a little girl, my neighbour’s Nanny and Grampy had THE BEST tree climbing tree, which we were forbidden to climb. Naturally, we climbed it anyway – at every opportunity – and would sit in the branches feeling quite on top of the world. If I’m completely honest, tree climbing was never my forte – I was (and still am) cautious by nature, and the thought of getting hurt usually squashes any wild notion I come up with before I have a chance to act on it.

But then I discovered OnTree Park.

My inner daredevil was released instantly when I learned OnTree Park has the highest safety standards in all of Canada and knowing I couldn’t possibly mess up and be left unsecured in a tree gave me permission to totally let loose. And it was amazing.

My first trip to OnTree was with my team at work: it was an amazing team-building experience that brought us so much closer together, but also made us independently test our limits. I had a lot of trepidation when we first arrived that day thinking I might not like it, but after completing our safety training and four courses I left with plans to return as soon as I could.

Between work, life and weather I had to wait a whole month to get back out but it was worth it. After eyeballing the weather forecast for a few days, we decided to take a gamble with the risk of thundershowers on Saturday – and it was so worth it! We were hit with a few drops of rain over the course of three hours (more might have been welcome as it was hella hot, you guys), but mostly we just sweat buckets while we completed seven easy- and medium-level courses plus a black diamond.

The day-two soreness has set in and I can barely brush my own hair.

The black diamond course (level: difficult) was a challenge – especially after having done a couple of courses already. By the time I scaled the first ladder, my arms were sore – never mind how I was feeling halfway through the course. Between not being tall enough to reach the lines comfortably and having laughable upper body strength, I wasn’t sure I’d complete but I would have died of embarrassment had I tapped out.

At less than $40 per person for a three-hour adventure, OnTree is a super affordable way to spend some time outdoors. I’ve now completed all but three courses (the other black diamond, the double black diamond and one of the green circles). There’s a children’s course as well that looks like a blast, so I’m hoping I can convince F to give it a try.

I’m already planning my next trip back… maybe I’ll tackle the double black diamond and join the other daredevils who fell victim (not literally, though, because SAFETY) to the 95 per cent failure rate. Have you tried OnTree? Did you love it?