Faith was certainly something I needed plenty of as I stood on the three-storey high platform, gingerly eyeing its open-air edge.
Faith in the cords; that they wouldn’t snap the moment I stepped off the platform. Faith in the staff; that they’d ensure all the harness and straps were in proper conditions. Faith in myself; that I wouldn’t have a change of heart right before attempting the “Challenge Jump”.
So, armed with faith, I began stepping toward the edge, where a staff was beckoning me to come closer.
I was to be the first in our little group of five or six to attempt the jump. We had, only moments ago, landed safely on the platform after ziplining through the air at 55km/h.
To clarify, we were at Zipcity, an urban zipline attraction located at the Lisboeta Macao H853 Fun Factory in ... well, Macao.
As a huge fan of ziplines, I was more than happy to be the first to “zip” down the 388m-long cables. The zipline has five parallel cables that up to five participants can zip down simultaneously, but I was going for it solo.
At the starting point atop the 60m-high tower, the countdown music for the zipline started playing.
One moment I was dangling there, waiting to be released, the next moment I was joyously zipping through the air.
But now as I stood on this platform, so far off the ground, there was no countdown music. Just the sound of my heartbeat.
The idea of hurling myself off a tall structure was not exactly one I’d entertained before.
Nervous yet thrilled, I could only grin when the staff assured me that this would be the faster way to get off the platform – faster than going down the stairs.
It was time. I stood on the edge, feet half on the platform, half jutting out off it.
On his signal, I stepped into the open air.
I expected to feel myself plummeting straight down after taking that first step. Instead, it was actually a slow, leisurely descend. I even had time to take in my surroundings as the cords safely lowered me to the ground.
The Zipcity staff was right. This was faster than taking the stairs.
Of course, we have plenty of interesting ziplines to try out in Malaysia too, even if they don’t include a scary jump at the end.
Among them is Sabah’s Coral Flyer. It is touted as the longest zipline in Borneo and the second longest island-to-island zipline in the world. The 250m-long zipline lets participants “fly” from Pulau Gaya to Pulau Sapi.
Another popular islan zipline is in South Korea. The 940m-long Skyline Zipwire at Nami Island is a fun way for visitors to reach the island without taking a ferry.
For anyone looking for more thrills, try The Flying Dutchman in St Maarten. This Caribbean island touts itself as the “home of the steepest zipline in the world”.
Here, visitors zip down an 853m-long line that drops 320m in elevation.
