Meet The Team: Chrissy Very

I’ve always felt connected with the land and the outdoors – living with it rather than just on it. Prior to Go Ape, I was working in outdoor recreation managing a boat concession, Kayak Pittsburgh, and leading kids’ outdoor education classes with Venture Outdoors. Go Ape was the next step – a great step! – in my career helping others connect with nature in a fulfilling way, helping them see how the outdoors can improve every aspect of our lives (more on that below…). 

I currently oversee our marketing, sales, and customer service departments which in other organizations may not include ziplining, but ours do! I still love getting to our Go Ape locations and, personally, love ascending our ziplines (that is, rather than going down, pulling ourselves up – an old-school training way of opening our self-belay-style courses (if you’ve been to our Indianapolis, Rockville, or Cleveland locations, those are the ones!) 

Almost a decade ago when I was managing our Go Ape Pittsburgh location, a ten- to eleven-year-old boy with down syndrome and autism came in with his mom. They didn’t have a reservation – his mom just wanted to see what was possible – and my goodness, we wanted him to be able to experience Go Ape! He was facing his fears and conquering the trees, which is an incredible feat for any of us! I worked with his mom so that he could come in and do Site 1 – his favorite – every day, and even almost 10 years later, that sticks with me. Go Ape is for everyone, no matter what, and the staff gets an incredible amount of joy in helping you face those fears and do something new (and they’re really good at helping!). 

Absolutely! Hard to believe, but before – and even in my early Go Ape days – I was terrified of heights. Would become paralyzed with fear climbing lighthouse stairs or those fire towers, even less than halfway up. When I got the job at Go Ape and saw what I had to do, such as climbing up 50+ feet in the open air to inspect the top cables, I would shake like a leaf up there. But it had to be done; my fear of heights – or maybe fear of falling – was fixed by 1. Pushing myself to just do it. Do it scared, and soon, you won’t be. And, 2. Seeing how safe it truly is. Go Ape has incredibly high safety standards, requiring daily inspections by staff and monthly by a highly competent manager – and doing those inspections, seeing and testing how safe it all is, then trusting in the gear, was freeing. Though, I still have – and encourage! – a healthy respect of heights!

They’re all fantastic! I love when our guests arrive excited, but still definitely nervous – it’s a big deal what they’re about to do! They may be jittery and slow to start, but seeing their confidence build after site 1, then site 2, and laughing and yelling (with joy!) with each site after is incredible.

Kayaking! I love a river with some good lively movement on it.

Currently, Phil Collin’s “Son of Man” has been energizing my every day. “Toward the Sun” by the Green Lads is also great for a tree- and nature-filled adventure.

Robert Irwin ziplining seems like it’d be a pretty awesome experience to see. Imagine those reactions (crikey!). He’d also likely be able to point out some great wildlife in the forest that we non-experts may miss. There truly are some amazing critters all around while you’re going Ape.

Go Ape changes lives. Crazy to say, but I’ve seen it time and time again – our guests, their kids, our staff. Go Ape shows you that you are capable of so much more than you may have known. If you can conquer a ropes course 20-50+ feet up, other challenges don’t seem so challenging. You may not know it, but you take that confidence, that resilience, with you into your everyday life. Now you’re doing better in school and work; you’re more connected with how  good you felt outside which fosters a greater love of the outdoors, creating stewards of us all and improving our mental and physical health by helping us get outside more; and you’re more adaptable, pushing beyond the boundaries and the hurdles that come up every day. Go Ape puts in perspective how capable we all are – and it’s an amazing thing to see.

Do it scared! It’s completely normal to be afraid of heights or think you’re not physically up for the challenge – but you are! Go Ape is so adaptive, so flexible in its style; it’s all at your own pace; and the guides are so trained in both safety but also empathy that you’ll leave wondering why you were ever hesitant to come. If you can take a walk outside or push through a challenging work day or learn chemistry in school (all very challenging in their own ways), then you can Go Ape.