Finally, the courage to fly: Ziplining in Maui

One of the platforms at Piholo Ranch. In the end the
suspended bridge up to the platform was
scarier than ziplining itself.

“1, 2, 3 …”

I stood there – or rather hung there in my harness – with no intention of letting go and flying. I had just watched three other couples fly down the zipline, but somehow my feet wouldn’t leave the platform.

“OK, let’s try again,” the 20-something leader said. “1, 2, 3 …”

Nope. At this point I was shaking. I comfort myself that I was not the only one terrified. One of the girls who went before us was scared, and she’d gone skydiving before. Not even tandem. Said it was nothing – and yet she was scared of ziplining. Made me feel better and worse at the same time.

I was up on that ziplining platform at Piholo Ranch in Maui because my husband badly wanted to zipline while we were in Hawaii. I had always wanted to zipline, as well, per my 40 by 40 goals, thinking it was a good way to face my fear of heights and my fear of falling without having to skydive or bungee jump. Because I would be tethered to a cable via a harness, I felt it was the activity that was the least likely to go awry.


Unfortunately, as soon as I stepped onto the first platform, I had second thoughts.

After failing to go for the second time, I looked over at my husband, waiting to go with me on a line parallel to mine, and the group leader who was waiting on the platform for us to go, and then down at the rest of our group already at the bottom. I decided I had to do it. My pride won out.

The second or third line. From the viewpoint of the platform.

This time I counted: “1, 2 ... and … 3!”

A brief hesitation and then I just let go. After an initial scream because it felt right – and a bit of cursing (again because it felt right) – I relaxed and realized it wasn’t so bad. Just as the group leader had promised, there was no sensation of dropping as if I were on a roller coaster. Instead it was smooth, and surprisingly fun.

The first line of the five-line course at Piholo Ranch (Piholo Ranch website) was little more than a football field in length. Because of that it was also one of the fastest and steepest lines, meaning we came into the end very fast. As I slowed down, I took a deep breath, a smile plastered on my face.

What the welcoming platform looks like on the other end. Two of the trained
employees would "catch" us and connect us with a rope so we wouldn't go backwards.
This was the second or third line.

And we so we hiked over to the next line. This time I went on the second set of “1, 2, 3s.”

By the time I had finished the five lines – the last line at more than half a mile of cable (!) – I went after the first 1, 2, 3. And then wished I could do all five all over again.

View from the final platform. This line was more than half a mile. It was a true high.
But definitely a screamer. Even the husband screamed on this one.

The red platform on the left is the final platform. Amazing views!

When it was all done, my husband told me he briefly thought I was going to back out on the first line. I’m glad I didn’t. It felt good to just go for it for once.

Me!