Climbing trees

Alan called to let me know he was taking BJ to a climbing centre, located about 35 minutes drive out of Berlin at a small place called Kleistow, and wanting to know if we wanted to come along. Alexander and Cameron were both excited by the idea, so we joined them and headed down past Potsdam to the centre.

When we arrived I realised it was the same place we had visited last year for the Pumpkin Festival, and the climbing centre was about 1km walk from the main centre through the forest.


It was brilliant value - 9 Euro for each child, including harness and gloves for 3 hours! It was a high ropes course, and the kids were fitted for their harnesses, each which had two carabinas and a block of pulleys (essential for the great zip lines!).
They had a safety instruction, and then set off on the practice course, which was only about 2 metres off the ground. After they got the all clear (showing how they could use all of the equipment, making sure they always had at least one carabina connected when moving between sections (around trees) and two at all other times, and how to use the block to ride the zip lines) they were off. They started on the kids courses, and progressively worked their way up to 'black' level adult courses.







They had a great time. They needed excellent concentration and focus to do the unclip/reclip routine at every tree, and tackled some seriously high and complex sections. The boys all did a fantastic job, and Alan and I basically followed them around at ground level (with the occasional take away coffee) whilst they got on with climbing, chosing courses and having loads of fun.

The weather looked quite hostile on our way down, with lots of driving rain. However it cleared up, and by the end the boys were even climbing in some sunshine.

Based on how much fun the boys had and the value for money, I'm sure we will be going back!