BIM Creative’s Acrophobic MD Andy Thevarokiam talks about his decision to take part in a 100mph zipwire for charity…

It was with some trepidation that I finally accepted the challenge… I had turned it down twice before but felt on the third time of asking that I couldn’t say no.

Why did I turn it down? Well, since I past the age of 25, I developed an irrational fear of heights. Standing on a ladder a few feet above the ground makes my legs start to wobble, standing at the edge of a second floor balcony is pretty nervy and anything higher is just out. landingzone-300x224 A few years back I decided that to cure my fear of heights, I would try Go Ape at Grizedale forest in the lakes. This turned out to not be one of my best ideas as I found myself clung to a tree unable to move forwards or backwards, whimpering like a puppy as little kids squeezed past me eager to get to the next tree. So when the guys at Newcastle Clinic first said to me, would you like to do a mile long zip line, travelling at over 100mph, 500 foot up in the air over a disused quarry lake… you can see why I smiled, laughed and politely declined.

But, to their credit Shaun and Gina kept asking and I eventually agreed.
Fast forward 2 months and I find myself in Snowdonia boarding the quarry bus. We were informed it would be a bumpy steep ride to the top. Understatement. Having been the last to board the bus, I was sat at the back and the first bump nearly threw me  out. Not a good start. It also gave me possibly the worst view to watch as we climbed higher and higher up the face of the quarry.the-newcastle-clinic-zipwire-team-300x224


When we finally reached the top, following a brief safety session, we were ready to go and after watching the first few go, it was time to get myself into a press up position facing down the side of the mountain waiting to be strapped in. Not the best position to be in but the wobbly legs held out long enough to be placed in the point of no return.

 

 

strappedin-300x2243, 2, 1… off. Very strange feeling… the wind rushes past you as you start off fairly close to the ground but that soon falls away. Your suddenly so high up heading face first down a mountain you really do feel like you are flying. 20 seconds in and the fear has faded as your realise you are still alive and the adrenaline kicks in and it’s time to try and enjoy it.

40 seconds later and it’s all over and I feel like I have achieved something pretty impressive. Has it cured my fear of heights? No. Would I do it again? Probably. Our sponsorship page is still open and to date we have raised over £1,400 for St Oswalds Hospice in Newcastle.

Watch the video here – a slight hat mix up meant that I was Gina for the day!

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