Story and Photos By Rachel Knight
If I told you of a way to feel 8 years old again, would you believe me? What if I told you this feeling didn’t come from a magical fountain of youth or skin care product guaranteed to reverse the effects of aging and leave your wallet aching? Well the evening I spent jumping, zip lining, rock wall climbing, and plunging into foam pits at Altitude Trampoline Park found the 8-year-old me again.
Altitude is Bryan College Station’s newest trampoline park. With a main court full of trampolines, a rock wall, dodge ball trampoline court, zip line, trapeze, balance beams, performance trampolines, and more, there is something to delight the kid in all of us at Altitude.
Before going to the trampoline park, Derek Rutten, Altitude’s general manager, offers tips on how to get the most out of the experience.
“Bring a good attitude, bring your workout clothes, and bring your friends,” Rutten says. “It’s always fun jumping with people you like to hangout with.”
Keeping his advice in mind, I grabbed my workout clothes, put on my best attitude, and called up two of my friends to leap, flip, and fly through an evening at Altitude.
As we walked into the building, we were immediately impressed with how clean the trampoline park looked and smelled. According to Owner Michael Ogorchock, this effect is common among park attendees and is the result of extra effort in cleaning, safety training for staffers, and the cool temperature kept in the park.
“We are like the Chick-Fil-A of trampoline parks,” Ogorchock says. “It’s a friendly and safe environment that really caters to moms. That’s one of the things that really sets us apart, aside from the fact that you pay one price and get to do everything.”
After filling out a safety waiver, receiving our wristbands, and purchasing a pair of socks designed to reduce slippage on the trampolines, we headed up the ramp to the active child’s paradise.
We jumped to new heights, climbed until our arms became limp noodles, zip lined into foam pits that made for soft landings, made slam dunks on the basketball goals, tested our coordination and friendships on the battle beams, attempted to flip on performance trampolines, got competitive with a little dodge ball, and spent an hour of our adult lives feeling as if we were care-free kids again.
When the announcer called for all jumpers with our wristband color to exit the court we were almost too pooped to pop, and that’s when we realized we might not actually be 8 years old. Needless to say, we got in a good workout while having fun participating in what Rutten calls an alternative form of fitness.
“Thirty minutes of jumping on a trampoline is the equivalent of running an hour on a treadmill,” Rutten says. “This is just a fun way to stay active. We have our fitness classes, and I’m drenched after 20 minutes. You’re working your whole body on the trampolines.”
In addition to providing a place for adults to feel like kids again and alternative fitness classes, Altitude also offers toddler time, birthday parties for kids, profit shares, lock-ins, and team-building opportunities. Ogorchock says the trampoline park is intended for all ages and works hard to provide entertainment for the community.
“I like the aspect that adults can come in here, put on some socks, and jump into a foam pit,” Ogorchock said. “When’s the last time as an adult that you got to jump on a trampoline or jump into a foam pit or played dodge ball? You get to rekindle your childhood spirit.”
For more information and pricing visit www.altitudecstat.com or call (979) 906-0008. Follow Altitude on Facebook to learn about the latest specials and giveaways.
