We will be in Arenal and Monteverde soon and want to do a zipline with our adventurous kids. I checked Skytrek and you have to be at least 100 pounds (or 10 years old?) to go unless you ride tandem with a guide. Do other zipline rides have lower weight/age requirements? Is riding with a guide common? As I understand it the weight requirement is not a safety issue, it's just to make the Skytrek ride work without getting stuck in the middle. Has anyone taken a brave 60 pound kid ziplining? In our case, it's the chicken mom who needs help from a guide

I think it's better to let him ride tandem.

The minimum weight limit at the zipline in Whistler is 70 pounds. However, a small man who weighed more than I do got stuck in the middle (the female guide had to climb out to the middle, hand over hand, to rescue him). I weigh nearly 50 lbs over the Whistler weight limit, and the only reason I did not get stuck was because I tucked myself into a tiny little ball to make myself go as fast as possible.

To make him feel better about going tandem, explain to him that he'll go a LOT faster than anybody else in the group. That will make him excited at the idea instead of disappointed.

Btw, by the third line, you'll love it and want to go again. My 60-year old mom was a bit freaked out at first, but now she searches out ziplines when on vacation.

We did the SkyTrek ziplines in Arenal last December and I can't imagine your kids would be disappointed going in tandem on those lines. They are very high above the canopy floor and loooong!

Hills27's suggestion of letting your kids know they will go faster if in tandem with a guide is a good one! My 67 year old mother also opted to go in tandem because she is afraid of heights. She enjoyed the experience immensely! Our guide at SkyTrek in Arenal was very personable and we all had a great time.

We were just in Arenal April 2007 with our two daughters 15 and 10. Skytrek/Skytram has the highest and I believe has some of the longest zip lines-one is 660 feet up and 1/2 mile long!. There are beautiful views of the lake and the volcano.

Our 10 yr old needed to ride with a guide (for the weight)and I chose to ride with a guide. Our daughters guide pointed out many things for her to look at so she really enjoyed it and did not mind riding with him. My guide whooped and screamed the whole time to get me excited-I was happy just to get to the next platform. If you are at all scared to do this, I highly suggest you go with a guide to help you enjoy the experience.

Thanks so much. It sounds like a guide is the way to go.