Reprinted from The Weirs Times

WEIRS- The largest high ropes and zipline park in northern New England will be coming to the Funspot Family Entertainment Center next summer.

Offering thrills for explorers of all ages and featuring an 800-foot long zipline, the park will be owned and operated by Monkey Trunks, a company started three years ago by Marcus and Hazel Ives, who already have similar adventure parks operating in Chocorua, NH. and in Orlando, Florida.

“This is going to be one of the biggest attractions in the Lakes Region. It’s phenomenal.” says Bob Lawton, Funspot owner, who says that he’s personally experienced the Monkey Trunks in Chocorua and thinks it’s exactly the kind of outdoor adventure that families are looking for.

The park will be built on the former Funspot golf driving range and extend into the former Storybook Forest area and will offer a three-level 25 foot tall Discovery high ropes course, complete with zip line and 40-foot drop zone, as well as a 65-foot high Jungle Course and a low ropes Mini Monkey course designed for toddlers and pre-schoolers.

The Ives, who originally are from Nottingham, England, have been frequent visitors to the Mount Washington Valley, coming flrst to ski at Mount Cranmore before moving here permanently to live in Madison.

They’ve always been intrigued with the environmentally friendly recreational opportunities offered by high ropes and zipline courses that they saw in England and opened their Chocorua park in 2008 and their Orlando park in 2009.

Their Chocorua park features a 65 foot high Jungle Course that includes 27 different high altitude obstacles, including a walk across dangling tires, inching along a tightrope and scaling a life size spider web amid the treetops.

It is built off of Rte. 16 and based in a renovated farmhouse which includes offices, bathrooms, vending machines, free WiFi and a comfortable indoor waiting room.

Emphasis is on safety according to the Ives, who says that all participants must first View a training film and then are carefully fitted with harness and safety ropes. They then take part in a ground school in which they must demonstrate that they understand the basics at a height of 18 inches.

Participants 12 and under are linked to a continuous transfer safety rope system on the Discovery and Mini Monkey courses to make certain that they never become detached from the safety cables.

Hazel Ives says a smart relay system is used, which locks a line in place and won’t allow the relay to open until a new one is in place and locked.

She says that the Discovery system allows young children to get a feel for the system and gain confidence.

“It’s very popular. Parents can stay near and watch or get into the course with their children. They often start out with them and end up sitting nearby and watching them. The kids can go on forever and there’s no end to the fun they have. It’s a great family adventure,” she says.

Those 13 and older can opt for the manual transfer system in the Discovery Course if parents and safety staff are confident they can follow the safety protocol, which requires verbal and visual confirmation with staff every time a line is disconnected from the system and transferred to a new cable. Safety staff are aloft in the Discovery and Mini Monkey areas at all times and monitoring the Jungle Zone from the ground.

Continuous transfer systems are the only type used in the higher Jungle Course.

The Ives say that a high quality staff is the key to operating the courses and that all employees go through a week of training before they start Working with the public.

“We pay them well and they come back summer after summer because they like the work. All of our 32 employees at Chocorua are coming back next year but we’re going to have to add about 15 people to help us staff the Funspot location,” says Hazel Ives.

She says that about half of the staff from the Chocorua location will be coming to Funspot in order to have well-trained and experienced people at the new location from the first day of operation on through the rest of the year.

“Our employees have as much fun as anyone. After a whole day out there they’ll often go up into the courses because they enjoy so much what they’re doing. Who wouldn’t enjoy
being around people all day who are having so much fun?” says Ives.

She said that special team building sessions are held at Monkey Trunks as well, offering an adventurous way to challenge participants physically and mentally with specially designed programs that improve communication skills, confidence building, leadership skills, cooperation, respect, trust and unity.

“People learn to work together safely and efficiently by managing risk. These workshops can be great for businesses as well as a wonderful learning experience,” says Ives.

She said that she is very happy to be coming to Funspot.

“It’s an amazing location, so visible from the highway and with a world class attraction right next door.

We can’t wait until we open there next summer. It’s going to be our flagship attraction,” says Ives.

For more information on Monkey Trunks visit there webiste at www.monkeytrunks.com.