Skytrex @ Taman Botani Negara, Shah Alam

An opportunity to take part in Nuffnang’s event is hard to be missed.  This time, we didn’t get to bring a +1, but still, 27 of us (3 bails out) will get the chance to experience something that is extremely adrenaline pumpin and high up the trees top at Skytrex, located within the greenery of Taman Botani Negara, in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Left for Shah Alam around 11.50am after sending wifey home. Thank god that I came to Shah Alam every year for this event called Exciting Race, and it helped me with the navigation around this city.  The signage can be a bit confusing, as Taman Cahaya Seri Alam or Taman Botani Negara is in fact, the same place.

Arrived around 12.30pm, just in time for a light snack/lunch (a scrumptious one it was) before heading for a safety briefing. Few familiar faces where there, and catching up just like old time buddies. Yup, bloggers are natural born friendly bunch of ppl :P 

courtesy of Skytrex! i had two of these < tak malu sungguh!

For the use of the locker, you need to pay RM 6 with RM 5 as a deposit and will be return back to you once you return the key. The glove is RM3 per pair. You can bring your own hydration, provided it stays in place while you were doing those challenges.

Filling up the indemnity form

Although its my 2^nd time here, the excitement always high. I kind a love the challenges, and conquering it once again will be something to talk about this time. As this time, im going to shoot some video while doing at it!

the sums of adventure!

harnesses

 

Shah looks like he's ready to rempit! :P

Mah@mahu wearing a full body harness.

Shah, Hans, Nuar 

all geared up and ready to go!

We were offered 2 choices, either to go for a less extreme one called Big Trill (with 26 challenges), or live up our dream and go for the Extreme Challenge (with 34 challenges)!
Yours truly opted for the Extreme one, knowing pretty much what that challenge is all about. 

We were given a short briefing on how to use the pulley and those carabiners, and you’ll get used to it in no time, even for a first timer. The important thing is that you must not forget where you hook your pulley and your 2 crabs. Since you’ll be doing few flying fox along the course, you might want to make sure that your lanyard didn’t tangle and keep it straight, to ensure you didn’t spin around while at it. 

 

 

dont play-play okeh!

the easy part. Daniel in the pic

Our session started around 1pm, with team from one of the insurance company down to their last member to start . Once the last person went up, its our turn. I volunteered to be the first one since I know there will be a queue up ahead, and I don’t wish to be the last person in the waiting line :P A lil bit of patience you must be, since not everyone doing this as fast and fit like you, some doing it real slow, some really-really careful where to land their foot. 

The challenge starts with a climb of a 2 storey house high ladder, followed by a flying fox. This is I must say the best part of the challenge. And at one time, no more than 3 person can be on the platform, therefore, expect some waiting time :)  

I wore my cycling glove since its sturdier to use for traversing through cables across the course. A bit poyo (show off) I must say, but it’s my hand that I care about :P 

The whole adventure took around 2 -3 hours to be completed, and its all depends on one’s stamina and sheer will.

1^st time doing it, I was so busy thinking about what will I have to go through next or how to manage the challenge, but the 2^nd time around, I get to enjoy everything, both the challenge and whats around, or under it. Its pretty high up alright (with some platform reaching a height of 22 metres). I even said hi to every instructor i met on the platform (case of being over friendly, as usual), and they do (somehow) appreciate the Hi and Hello as they had to stay up there for hours! They will guide you further (if necessary). But i must say, smelling them food sure makes me hungry la wey!

the first platform seen from the distance

make sure you always hook both of em at the red-taped cable

this is just the beginning

awesome sight aint it?

you'll get enough of flying fox action here

After the 9^th challenge, we kind a stuck at the platform waiting for the group in front of us to get through. While waiting I get the chance to get to know few members of our team, and the team in front of us!  Our team are the havoc bunch, I must say! I can still hear them from the distance right after. A girl from the other group was stuck at one of the challenge, but her buddies just stand and stare. i mean u need not to shout or anything, but a good motivational words should make her atleast try to get through kan? I dare not spoke a word, might be a wise thing to do. One of the instructor came to the rescue, and we are cleared to continue.

abg instructor to the rescue

chicken exit. last option. dont do it. no. try harder :P

And to my surprise, not everyone in our team does this sort of thing often. Some are just movie goers, while others are more into beauty stuff and all. To be able to complete the whole thing, u guys is something! Salut!

And here what I learned last time, that u can always cut the queue if the instructor and the person in front of you is ok with it. Few of them already exhausted and let me go through. As I said, this is my 2^nd time and I already knew what to expect up ahead.  Some even asked how to tackle the challenge, and replied happily ‘of course this is how you do it' while making my way through :P

 

stucked! and they are all hyped!

 

 
Its cloudy since the beginning, and im afraid its gonna rain soon, and lost the others somewhere at the back. If its start to rain and you can hear the thunder rumbling, you'll need to stop at once, or the phrase is 'abandoned' as the instructor mentioned. That would be a waste isnt it? As the last time, we had to wait for nearly 2 hours before they allowed us to begin, once the rain completely stopped. 

easy peasy. provided u dont look down?

Here's the snippit of what's going on, man i wish i could take a video for the whole challenge! :P 

Enjoy the video, trust me, its doable, but you might want to add some stamina in order to get through the course. Its tiring, and once u get tired, you’ll find it hard to go on, and then you’ll get bored and opted for a chicken exit. For me, no matter how hard it is, somehow completing what you need to finish is worth the try, unless its beyond your strength and your body doesn’t agree with your brain. And sometime, you need to draw the line. You can always try again kan? (i have another one, will post it up once i manage to upload it)

almost done!

I completed the whole course after 2 hours, while the last person to get back to the starting point was around 4 pm. 

After having a light lunch, we were presented with a certificate of completion from Skytrex team. 

with mr. azlan

last session was @ 2.30 pm.

 

hear.. hear :P 

tata!

Some bloggers said that Big Thrill is more difficult but i'll have to agree that Extreme challenge is more challenging! We took a group photo and waited for the bus to take us out. Session ended around 5 pm.

More info can be found here : http://www.skytrex-adventure.com/

*few photo credit to Nuffnang