LUDLOW, Vt. – Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the summer season and the official season opening of Okemo Mountain Resort’s Adventure Zone at Jackson Gore. Okemo’s Adventure Zone offers fun for the whole family. Whether visitors spend an hour or an entire day, The Adventure Zone is sure to garner giggles, shouts and squeals of pure delight.

Monkey Crawl, See-Saw, Postman’s Walk, Bridge to Nowhere, Tarzan Swing … these are just a few of the features that make up the newest addition to Okemo’s Adventure Zone. The Haulback Challenge Course is a self-guided, treetop adventure – a linear arrangement of fun and unusual physical challenges requiring participants to travel from tree to tree, at various heights, using a combination of suspended bridges, ropes and cables. Platforms surrounding the trees link the different features.

“We wanted to introduce a new element to Okemo’s Adventure Zone,” said Okemo Vice President and General Manager Bruce Schmidt. “The challenge course designed by Phoenix Experiential Designs, the same company that built our zipline course, offers our guests an enjoyable experience with a rush of adrenaline in a very safe environment.”

Challenge Course adventurers wear a safety harness and helmet, and are connected to an overhead cable using a continuous belay system that follows guests without any effort on their part and provides a smooth ride along ziplines. Participants travel at their own speed and course attendants offer assistance if needed.

There are lots of other adventures to experience in Okemo’s Adventure Zone this summer.

Timber Ripper Mountain Coaster
Similar to a roller coaster, sled-like cars carry one or two riders along rails at speeds nearing 30 mph. Equipped with brakes so riders determine their own speed, cars glide smoothly around banking turns, between trees, and along 3100 feet of track that twists through corkscrew turns, along banking loops and over rippling waves.

Sawyer’s Sweep Zipline Tour
This guided high-flying tour features suspension bridges, rappels and seven zipline segments that rise 40 to 50 feet above the ground. The longest segment measures nearly 700 feet.

Amp Energy Big Air Bag
It takes a real thrill seeker to take a leap into a giant inflatable bag like a movie stunt double. Measuring 30 x 50 feet, the bag’s internal air pumps ensure constant pressure to absorb the 30-foot fall from a platform above.

Stump Jumper Bungee Trampoline
This four-station hopping hub combines technologically advanced trampoline jumping surfaces with bungee cord tethers attached to a jump harness; allowing participants to reach heights of 20 feet.

Segway Personal Transport tours
Forget Mall Cop. This off-road, guided excursion puts those knobby tires to the test. Tour participants explore open fields, wooded trails, and even a specially designed contoured track on a self-balancing, two-wheeled personal transport.

Climbing Pinnacle
Painted to look like a giant tree trunk, this three-sided climbing tower offers routes of varying difficulty. Trained staff is on belay to help guide climbers as high as they want to go.

Lumberin’ Cal Mini Golf
Each hole in this 18-hole course is themed with an element of local legend and lore. Choice is the motivator in this course with multiple paths to the cup. The course designer’s unique concept of “intentional luck” allows children and less-skilled players to score as well as adults and expert putters.

The Maples at Okemo Disc Golf
Instead of a ball and clubs, disc golf players use flying discs. The Maples course offers 18 “holes” of play with Professional Disc Golf Assoc. approved targets. A nine-hole “Saplings” course for family play is new this summer. Uniquely inspired by Vermont’s maple sugaring traditions, galvanized metal sap buckets sit atop wooden posts with metal tubs serving as the receptacles for final throws. Discs are available for rent and for purchase.

A Waffle Cabin snack bar provides refreshment and a picnic area provides a shaded rest spot during a day of adventure. There’s also a gift shop and Okemo’s Coleman Brook Tavern offers full-service dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Each of Okemo’s Adventure Zone features is priced individually or visitors can purchase an Adventure Zone Day Pass wristband for $54. The Day Pass includes three rides on the Timber Ripper, unlimited use of The Stump Jumper Bungee Jump, unlimited Disc Golf, unlimited Lumberin’ Cal Mini Golf, unlimited jumps into the Amp Energy Big Air Bag, unlimited climbs on the Climbing Wall and a full-day pass to the Jackson Gore Springhouse Pool and Fitness Center.

Okemo’s Adventure Zone initially will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. Specific information about hours and pricing is posted online at okemo.com. Zipline tours and Segway Personal Transport tours may be reserved by calling (802) 228-1600.