- I'm here with Kate Thomas, operations manager at Navitat, and we're on the Attaya platform, right?

- Yes, ma'am.

It's the first platform for our new Tree Top Express course, which we just built, so we have two new bridges, a jump feature, a climb feature, and that'll lead into the rest of our course, so it gives people a little bit more adventure when they come out here.

- For anyone who's never been to Navitat, what is here, and what is this?

- Just north of Asheville, North Carolina, Navitat's been around for about 15 years now.

Our big mountaintop tour is three zip lines from mountaintop to mountaintop.

That's kind of our big guy.

It's 3,600 feet.

You're 350 feet in the air.

You get views of the whole Blue Ridge Mountains.

It's gorgeous.

And then we also have our Tree Top Express tour, so that's what we're standing at now, and that's four zip lines.

There's three jump features.

We have a climbing feature that kids, especially, are going to love, climbing up in the trees.

- Now, is this a place for somebody who is afraid of heights?

- It is, actually, yes.

One of our managers is afraid of heights, and so we also offer RTV tours.

We're on 250 acres around here, and there's all these, like, mountain trails, so folks sometimes purchase an RTV shadow, and they can shadow along and watch people zipping, which is really fun.

We also let them get up on our bridges, our two new bridges that we have, and they can watch people from there.

And as we're, like, kind of hiking through, because we're in such, like, beautiful forest out here, we share a lot about the ecology, and the Appalachian Mountains are just such a special place.

Like, the cove we're standing in is actually, like, this little, like, has so many different types of organisms and fun things to talk about, so we fill folks in on that, too, and the history of the mountains, and it's a really kind of inclusive experience in that way.

(howling) - What do visitors say when they've had their experience?

- They're really amazed by just the views, and it's really nice, 'cause they get to get out and escape.

It's nice for them to kind of disconnect and reconnect with nature a little bit, and have a fun experience in that way, so that's what we hear a lot of.

You're coming in, I got you, I got you!

(laughing) - Nice getting you a nice landing.

- Working it out!

(laughing) - Now, I'm with Ilze Zegares.

She is the sales and marketing manager here at Navitat.

Can you tell me about the rebuild of Navitat after Hurricane Helene, and also the expansion?

- Yes, the rebuild took some time, so unfortunately, we had to close much earlier.

Usually, our season runs till November.

Right after Helene, we did close pretty much as soon as it hit, and kind of worked on the damages, helped the community.

I'm very excited to be able to offer guests something from the original course that we opened 16 years ago.

We had bridges, and the tour took a very long time, so it's been adjusted, but I am very happy to bring back some bridges and more excitement, more climbing opportunities for our guests, and a little bit for everyone, right?

Whether you're afraid of heights or ready to overcome your fear of heights, like I did.

- Yeah, 'cause you have a fear of heights, right?

- I do, yes.

I started here four years ago as a guide, and one of the other guides at the time was like, "You should work at Navitat," and I was like, "I'm afraid of heights," and he said, "Everybody is."

So you kind of-- I feel like you get used to it, but it's still very, like-- it just feels like a sense of accomplishment when I'm able to step on the tree and see the people having a great time, the smiles that we offer, and I love how wide our offering is.

So we take anyone ages 5 to-- however, our oldest guest on site has been 89.

- Whoa.

- That was-- yeah, that was a little bit of a, you know, bucket list or item.

- But they did it.

- They did it, absolutely.

We also have a lot of groups come here.

- Yeah!

- Look!

- We make sure that all our gear is up to standards, which we always do.

We inspect it before we send anyone anywhere, right?

I will triple-check all your gear here, and then we always, on this course, have double clips, right?

So that makes sure that one point is always clipped in.

Our guides are so well-trained that we're able to double-check.

Everything's up to par, and then still make sure you have a great time.

(cheering) So here, this is more traditional course.

Our other course, Mountaintop, is quite unique.

On that one, it is one of the biggest lines in the area.

The second line on the Mountaintop course is 3,600 feet, and you go next to one another, which is quite impressive.

So there are side-by-side lines, and there's also a little bit of a racing element, you know, if we go side-by-side.

- A little competition.

- Yeah, a little competition.

- Are you trying to challenge me right now?

- A little bit, you know?

We can go down and see who wins, yeah.

But it is truly amazing.

We have a lot of people that come back, and we encourage people to come back, because every single time you zip, you just experience something else, right?

Whether it be, like, the views.

If you come in fall, it's gonna be absolutely different than in the spring.

Also, any time you come, you get different guides with different knowledge.

We have some people that are educated in the Appalachian and know the plants and kind of get some of that education, and we tie in a little bit.

You know, also, you can get some really bad dad jokes, which I'm very good at.

- Those are really great reasons to come back, even if you've come before.

- I'm just so happy to always be here, and I think this is a wonderful place to escape.

- Well, I can't agree more.

(music) Navitat Canopy Adventures in Asheville is located at 242 Poverty Branch Road in Barnardsville, and they're open Thursday through Monday from March through November.

For specific hours, group tours, and more, visit them online at navitat.com/asheville-nc.