My first official fear-of-heights related panic attack occurred in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium when I was in the fourth grade. My father was too cheap to actually buy us seats (“I’m getting you popcorn. Be grateful.”) so we wound up sitting on top of the scoreboard somewhere out in left field.

As we were ascending the stairs and oxygen became a quick-fading luxury, my legs went numb, my vision went hazy and my heart went into tachycardia. I woke to my father’s screaming face and a hot dog vendor offering me a free wienie and a Coke. The Yankees lost. Good times.

Gayle gets ready to launch over St. Kitts. Photo by Lisa Overman

My second? Ziplining in St. Kitts with Sky Safari.

I stood on the platform, overlooking the rainforest below, my hands sweaty and shaking as I grasped the T-bar for dear life, reminding myself to take in whatever shallow sips of oxygen I could manage as my body broke into a torrential cold sweat.

If it’s really my time to go, I thought, let’s hope at least my corpse photographs well. Finally, a moment of clarity: If Carson Daly can have his own show, then dammit, I can do this.

That was all I needed. I stepped off the platform. Before I could even force an expletive out of my cotton mouth, the intense thrill of pure adrenaline mixed with the unbridled freedom of flying through the air made me forget that I was truly terrified. I wanted more. I was hooked.

Our group of travel writers, on a press trip sponsored by the St. Kitts Marriott Resort & Royal Beach Casino, was treated to the ultimate zipline Full Tour,  a 5-line experience that starts off with an introductory practice run called the “Monkey Trainer,” a short, 140-foot line that got us all acclimated to the feel of ziplining; next up, “The Boss,” the longest run at 1,350 feet andprobably the most spectacular—you soar 250 feet  above the lush canopy of rainforest below with a breathtaking view of the ocean nearby; the third run, the thousand-foot “Mango Tango;” then the 900-foot “Brimstone Blast;” and lastly, the 500-foot “River Rocker,” a dual-line system where you race side by side with an opponent.

Other tours offered by Sky Safari include the Three-line Half Tour and the Three-line Tour with River Walk.

The staff at Sky Safari was meticulous about going over each safety procedure, explaining all the equipment before strapping us in (helmet, harness, carabiner clips, the t-bar trolley) and how to brake (you don’t actually brake; you come to the end of the line and a system of catch-blocks absorbs most of the impact). The instructors made ziplining look effortless as they sailed upside down over the rainforest while snacking on mangos, and it pretty much is, once you get up enough courage to just step off the platform.

Remember, fear-of-heighters—you can do this. Just think Carson Daly.

(All photos by Gayle McCarthy unless otherwise noted.)