Go Ape

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Outdoor adventure company

title: "Go Ape" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["travel-and-holiday-companies-of-the-united-kingdom", "tourist-attractions-in-england", "tourist-attractions-in-scotland", "tourist-attractions-in-the-united-states", "2002-establishments-in-the-united-kingdom"] description: "Outdoor adventure company" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Ape" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Outdoor adventure company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameGo Ape Ltd.
typeEmployee owned
foundation2002
founder
location_countryUK
servicesRopes courses, zip wires
homepage,
::

| name = Go Ape Ltd. | logo = | logo_caption = | caption = | type = Employee owned | foundation = 2002 | founder = | location_city = | location_country = UK | area_served = | key_people = | industry = | products = | services = Ropes courses, zip wires | homepage = , | intl = Go Ape! is an outdoor adventure company which runs tree top ropes courses under the names Tree Top Challenge, Tree Top Adventure and Zip Trekking, as well as ground-based Forest Segway Safaris, at locations across the United Kingdom and the United States.

History

The company was founded in 2002 by Rebecca and Tristram Mayhew, after they were inspired by a tree-top adventure course in France, and has a contract with the Forestry Commission for courses on multiple sites. The first course opened in March 2002 in Thetford Forest, on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk; it was the first self-belay tree top ropes course in Britain.{{cite web | last = | first = | author-link = | vauthors = | title = Growing Futures: The England Forestry Strategy in Action | work = | publisher = The Forestry Commission | date = June 2006 | url = http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fce-growing-futures.pdf/$FILE/fce-growing-futures.pdf | format = PDF | doi = | access-date = 2007-11-20 | archive-date = 2008-02-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080222000110/http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fce-growing-futures.pdf/$FILE/fce-growing-futures.pdf | url-status = dead |title = Awards we've been lucky enough to win |publisher = Go Ape |url = http://www.goape.co.uk/ContentArticle.aspx?Id=86&ate=104 |access-date = 2007-11-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070821230958/http://www.goape.co.uk/ContentArticle.aspx?Id=86 |archive-date = 2007-08-21 |url-status = dead In 2007, it was shortlisted for the Best Norfolk Attraction award at the Tourism In Norfolk Awards.{{cite news |last = Neate |first = Rupert |title = And our tourism finalists are ... |work = Eastern Daily Press |publisher = Archant Regional Limited |date = 2007-10-26 |url = http://business.edp24.co.uk/story.aspx?brand=BIZOnline&category=Business&tBrand=BIZOnline&tCategory=homepage&itemid=NOED26%20Oct%202007%2008%3A17%3A37%3A970 |access-date = 2007-11-20 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050425235549/http://business.edp24.co.uk/story.aspx?brand=BIZOnline |archive-date = 2005-04-25 In 2008 the company opened new courses in Kent, Cumbria, Devon, Buckinghamshire and Staffordshire.{{cite web |title=4 New Sites |publisher=Go Ape |url=http://goape.co.uk/ContentArticle.aspx?Id=89 |access-date=2008-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070821225559/http://www.goape.co.uk/ContentArticle.aspx?Id=89 |archive-date=2007-08-21 |url-status=dead

The courses are made up of zip wires, rope swings, ladders, walkways, bridges and tunnels made of wood. There are "Adventure" courses at a number of sites around the country designed for 6–12 year olds. There are also Segway scooters and mountain bikes.

In 2014 Go Ape opened trampoline parks in East Kilbride, Wolverhampton and Stevenage under the name Air Space. This part of the business was sold in 2017 to Oxygen Freejumping. On 29 September 2019, Verity Bailes, from Peterborough, became the first person to complete Go Ape's Treetop Challenge at all 34 locations across the UK. In 2021 Go Ape became employee owned.

Facilities

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Woman_riding_a_zip-line.jpg" caption="A woman on a Go Ape zip-line"] ::

There are 36 locations in parks, forests and woodlands in England, Scotland and Wales consisting of rope ladders, zip-lines, rope bridges, trapezes and swings. There are also 12 Forest Segway experiences, 25 Treetop Adventure, 16 Treetop Adventure Plus and 3 Nets Adventure courses. The course in Grizedale Forest, near The Lake District in Cumbria, has the longest dual zip-lines in Britain.{{cite web | last = | first = | author-link = | vauthors = | title = Air Activities: Go Ape | work = Scotland Outdoors | publisher = BBC | date = 2007-09-10 | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/outdoors/features/go_ape/ | doi = | access-date = 2007-11-20 }} , four Go Ape locations offer an axe throwing experience.

Public opposition

There have been public opposition to some of Go Ape's proposals. They withdrew their application to build a course in Glasgow's Pollok Park after 5000 objections from local residents.{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8098626.stm|title=Go Ape drops treetop park plans |publisher=BBC News}} They chose not to build a course in the Bidjigal Reserve in New South Wales, and met some opposition to their plans to expand in Moel Famau, North Wales. In England, there was a public response over their proposal in Rivington and Essex County Council declined a proposal after protests. A Go Ape ropes course proposal in the United States was declined after a large neighbourhood outcry in Seattle's Lincoln Park.

Safety

In 2008, a man aged 76 died after collapsing on a high wire platform at Go Ape's Aberfoyle, Scotland location. In a statement from the company, CEO Tristram Mayhew said that since 2002, 17 Go Ape courses had served over one million customers and "nothing like this has happened before".

In 2016, at a Go Ape location in Delaware, US, a woman fell 35 ft and died. A statement from the company said that she had disconnected herself from the safety system while waiting to use a zip line, and that the company had safely served over six million customers.

References

References

  1. [http://www.goape.com Go Ape USA] (accessed 3 May 2010)
  2. (2011-05-12). "Growing Business Success Stories - Go Ape: Tristram Mayhew". Growingbusiness.co.uk.
  3. Walsh, Dominic. (2024-07-15). "Go Ape sells trampoline business to Oxygen Freejumping".
  4. "Woman's 34 Site Challenge {{!}} Blog {{!}} Go Ape".
  5. "Axe Throwing {{!}} Outdoor Activity For Groups {{!}} Go Ape".
  6. (2012-02-22). "Go Ape course won't go at Baulkham Hills". Hills Shire Times.
  7. (2010-02-12). "Go Ape wires plan for Moel Famau unzips opposition". BBC News.
  8. (2010-06-24). "Angry locals Go Ape at park proposal". The Bolton News.
  9. Sarah, Swain. (2008-03-04). "New hope in bid to stop Go Ape plan for park". Brentwood & Ongar Liberal Democrats.
  10. (2012-07-11). "BULLETIN: Lincoln Park zipline proposal scrapped, says Parks". West Seattle Blog.
  11. (2008-07-02). "Man, 76, dies at adventure centre".
  12. Chang, David. (2016-08-25). "Woman Who Died in 35-Foot Fall From Delaware Zip Line Platform Was Trying to Check Item Off Bucket List".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

travel-and-holiday-companies-of-the-united-kingdomtourist-attractions-in-englandtourist-attractions-in-scotlandtourist-attractions-in-the-united-states2002-establishments-in-the-united-kingdom