Aerial Extreme is calling upon families to treat their mum to a complimentary session at one of their four high-wire adventure courses this Mothering Sunday; 13th March 2010.

Last year, over one hundred dads enjoyed a free run of the courses on Fathers’ Day, though now it is the turn of the Super Mums to prove that they are up to the challenge of climbing walls and cargo nets, plus swinging 40ft in the air and tackling suspended obstacles from tightropes and zip lines.

The offer is available at all four Aerial Extreme high-wire adventure courses located at: Bedale (North Yorkshire), Knowsley Safari Park (Merseyside), Willen Lake (Milton Keynes), and Trentham Estate (Staffordshire).

A spokesperson for Aerial Extreme said: “We’ve seen time and time again that this is a really fun and memorable way to enjoy a day for families. Whilst our Fathers’ Day offer was hugely popular, we aren’t forgetting about mum. This way she can show her family that she is a woman of many talents by completing the course.
We urge all families to reward mum afterwards by giving her the chance to put her feet up and making sure that she is well looked after!”

Aerial Extreme provides an opportunity for families to join in with the fun too and is open to anyone 1.1m tall or taller. The courses are designed with the highest safety measures and are designed for all ages; from kids to parents to granny and grandpa.

Any sons and daughters wishing to treat their mum to a fun-packed Mothers’ Day must book a time slot in advance by calling 0845 652 1736 or emailing info@aerialextreme.co.uk.

We hope to see you and your Super Mums for a great day out.

The scheme, called Superhero Sundays, rewards each site’s local heroes – and this year management chose The Donna Louise Children’s Hospice for Trentham; Willen Hospice for Milton Keynes; Martin House Children’s Hospice for Bedale and Willowbrook Hospice for Knowsley.

Customers have been taking advantage of half price bookings at each course on the last Sunday of each month at 10am, with all the money taken being accumulated for their chosen charities.

Operations Director, Alex Dick said: “The scheme has proved really popular with customers who can take advantage of reduced entry fee and know that all the money is going straight to charity too. We’re over the moon to have raised so much for fantastic causes, and hope to raise even more next year as more people learn of the scheme.”

Associates of each charity were also treated to complimentary sessions on the course throughout the year.

On Saturday 31st October the spookiest night of the year Aerial Extreme will open its courses for the first ever time at night, for a Halloween special.

Our outdoor adventure ropes courses based next to Willen Lake (Milton Keynes), in Knowsley Safari Park and Trentham Estate (Stoke-on-Trent) offer ghoulishly terrifying rope bridges, mammoth madness podium jumps, spookily speedy zip lines and crazy cargo nets – a challenge for most in broad daylight. Now though, and for a one night only Halloween special, a select team of 20 adventurers can do all this after sunset.

Company management are trialling the scheme at three of their UK sites, and have rated the exercise ‘over 18’s only’ due to the limited light - and likeliness of spooky Halloween happenings on the night!

“This is what’s so fantastic about Aerial Extreme – we can put on exciting events like this safe in the knowledge that our customers remain clipped on the whole way around the course,” said Alex Dick, Operations Manager.

Participants will be greeted by Aerial Extreme instructors sporting scary costumes, briefed and then led to the course lit by candlelit pumpkins. The course’s sound system will also be playing horror music to add to the spooky atmosphere – and participants are invited to dress up in their most ghoulish fancy dress!

Tickets will be sold on a first come first served basis. Over 18s ooohhhhnly!

In preparation for the 2009 Academy Tour to Australia this month, the squad followed in the footsteps of the first team squad by visiting Aerial Extreme at Knowsley Safari Park for a morning of team building.

The daunting aerial challenges gave the young players a final chance to put their teamwork into practice and also conquer a few fears.

The experienced staff put the team through their paces with a variety of challenges from zip wires to mid air jumps and gravity defying rope bridges.

Neil Kilshaw, Player Performance Manager said: “Aerial Extreme was a perfect team building experience just before we depart on a trip that will be the most challenging experiences of the players young lives.

“The day was challenging, rewarding and above all an immensely enjoyable experience all helped by the dedicated and friendly staff. The experience will stand the squad in good stead for what is to come.”

Aerial Extreme is one of the world’s biggest urban Adventure Ropes Courses. Academy players, aged 16-17, had to take on over 60 awe-inspiring obstacles from speedy zip wires, mid air jumps, suspended gravity defying climbing walls and much more.

Site Manager Becky Allen said: “We always welcome sports teams looking for an unusual and constructive team building day out. The group from St Helens Rugby seemed to have a fantastic time, and we look forward to welcoming them back soon!”

The record attempt, which took place on 20th April, has just been confirmed by officials at the Guinness World Records head office, who have sent their official certificate for verification. The team of ten, which also included support from the Merseyside Youth Challenge Trust, jumped a total distance of 4.485km (2.79miles) – the equivalent of 345 jumps from the 13m Powerfan.

Knowsley’s site manager, Becky Allen, said: “The record attempt was a great challenge but we’ve had to wait for over four months to see if our efforts would result in a new world record. When the certificates came through we couldn’t believe it and all started screaming with delight. We’re not going to stop here and have more planned for 2010.”

Aerial Extreme and the Merseyside Youth Challenge Trust will also feature in the Guinness World Record book.

“We booked a particularly wet day to go, but by the time we were harnessed up and ready to swing, the rain had stopped and the nerves had kicked in! We were greeted and briefed by the very friendly staff who were really encouraging and put our minds at ease. They gave us our harnesses, helmets and instructions and we were off!

There are 3 levels to the course – the first is the junior course, but feeling brave (or stupid) my colleague and I decided to go straight to the middle course. This involves a mixture of obstacles including speedy zip wires, mid air jumps and climbing walls, which we managed to complete without any misses or falls. As the height increased the course definitely became more challenging, but we completed the third level after a few more hesitations and a bit of tree hugging! The staff are always on hand to guide you through the course, and to swoop in and save you if necessary.

The hardest obstacle in the final level was the climbing wall with nothing underneath you, apart from a sheer drop. Although you’re securely harnessed in - it’s a real test to the nerves. Then at the end of the course you have the opportunity to jump from the tower (14 metres high) to the ground. The attendant attaches you to a harness and then you literally have to jump off the edge- a little nerve wracking but a real buzz to finish the course with. I have to say it was a huge relief to hit the ground!

Being a regular gym-goer (sort of!) I didn’t expect to be too tested, but my body did suffer the next day. It requires a lot of grasping onto ropes (or hanging from ropes in my case), so your upper body gets a real workout. However it was definitely worth the pain. If you like a challenge or just fancy doing something different – give this a go!

The course is very reasonably priced with various discounts available for group parties/children, so there’s no excuse not to try it. It can last up to two hours as well, so you definitely get your moneys worth. It would make a great start to a hen or stag party or for a different corporate event. Either way, it definitely singles out the weak from the strong!”

You can visit MK Web to see the review for yourself at www.mkweb.co.uk

The bizarre Lying Down Game has taken online social networking site, Facebook by storm in recent weeks, with users uploading progressively wacky photographs of people lying down in extreme locations such as jumbo jet engines, train stations, ticket machines and roof tops.

And now, staff and customers at Aerial Extreme’s outdoor adventure ropes course in Trentham have taken the game to new limits by balancing up to 14m in the air on suspended rope bridges.

Site Manager Alex Dick said: “We were a bit baffled when more and more of our customers started taking unusual photos of each other lying down on their fronts but a bit of online research soon revealed what they were up too – and now we’ve been joining in on the fun!”

According to some, there are strict rules to the Lying Down Game that must be adhered: the lying down must be as public as possible; palms must be flat against your sides and toes must point at the ground – as if standing up.

Management at the site have uploaded their staff pictures on to the Aerial Extreme Facebook Page -search for Aerial Extreme on Facebook for more information. Instructors have informed all that they are fully harnessed and safe at all times.

Nola Gutteridge, friend Amy and mum Sandra Gutteridge tackled the course’s cargo nets, climbing walls and zip lines in memory of Nola’s late daughter Aimee-Leigh Gutteridge, who passed away last year as a result of cot death.

The trio, who dressed up in pink tutus and legwarmers for their visit, collected sponsorship money and raised over £200 for the FSID.

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths is the UK’s leading baby charity aiming to prevent unexpected deaths in infancy and promote infant health.

Holly Butcher, Head of Fundraising at FSID, said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to Sandra and Nola for supporting FSID in such a daring and creative way.

“Without the hard work and help of people like them we would not be able to fund vital research into cot death and support bereaved parents in the UK.”

Visit www.fsid.org.uk for more information on the charity.

On Wednesday (29th July) the team tackled Aerial Extreme’s zip lines, wobbly bridges and climbing walls in anticipation of the first day of the season. The outdoor adventure ropes course became a training ground for two hours as the squad warmed up for their first game against Oxford United on Saturday 8th August.

Site Manager, Kate Hewson, said: “York City FC were great fun and really seemed to enjoy themselves at Aerial Extreme. Our course is very popular with sports teams wanting to improve fitness and build on their teamwork. It’s certainly a fun alternative to gruelling circuits, and provides a great opportunity for team building.”

Mark Lancaster said: “The array of activities offered in Milton Keynes means that it does not matter if you are 5 or 50, there is always some exciting way to exercise in our city.”

The Conservative MP was touring Milton Keynes’ fitness facilities – inside and out – and came to show his support for the benefits of outdoor exercising while having fun. In addition, Mark helped mark the MK course’s third birthday by tackling the cargo nets, zip lines and balance beams at Aerial Extreme, which opened this time in 2006.

Ria Bugg, site manager at Aerial Extreme said: “The course is a great way to get fit, enjoy the outdoors and keep active - but an exciting family day out at the same time. We want to remind people that exercise can be great fun!”