About Go Ape

How did it all begin?

The origins of the American species of Go Ape lie in the United Kingdom.  Dan & Jenny D’Agostino were away from their natural habitat, living abroad in London, England, on corporate assignments.  Both were considering a career change and moving back to their hometown of Washington, DC when they came across the Go Ape team in the UK.  Dan & Jenny were inspired to do something more in keeping with their own aspirations of living a more adventurous life closer to nature rather than in front of a computer screen.  Together, they met with Tristram Mayhew, who explained the ancestry of the pre-American species…

Back in 2001, Tristram and Rebecca Mayhew were on holiday in France with their six-month old baby and came across a French family swinging through the trees.  From the looks on their faces, it was clear both the kids and their parents were having the time of their lives.

Already thinking about stepping off the corporate ladder, Tristram and Rebecca saw an opportunity to start a business, modeled after their values.  So they seized the moment, quit their London jobs and began the Go Ape adventure.  It all sounded rather familiar to Dan & Jenny.

Following in the ape prints of Tristram and Rebecca, Dan and Jenny abandoned the grounded corporate world and took off on a treetop adventure of a lifetime!  Together, they launched Go Ape (USA) in early 2009, drawing on the knowledge and experience from the UK to spread the Go Ape message all over the United States.

What’s the Go Ape vision?

It’s pretty simple really – we want to create adventure and encourage everyone from kids and families to young adults and corporate teams to live life adventurously.  It’s so much more fun that way.

And our values?

We’re doing our part to keep the adventure in adventure.  We believe that zero risk equals zero development and we’re always looking to challenge people, to surprise and excite them.

We’re also passionate about motivating people to believe in themselves – to swap ‘I can’t’ for ‘I can’. Great news is that a lot of our customers are finding this to be true of their Go Ape experience.

It’s equally important to us to be socially and environmentally responsible and create worthwhile and well rewarded careers for our employees.

In short, we just want to do the right thing.  Sounds a bit much, we know.  But we really mean it.

Do we have a mission?

Yes.  From our new “Banana HQ” in Rockville, Maryland we’re plotting ways to get the whole country and world swinging through the trees.  Well, we’d at least like to be the best tree top adventure company on the planet.

So what’s the plan?

The popularity of Go Ape and our tribe of supporters is growing!  Our plan is to open bunches of courses – hopefully close to you.  In the meantime, please drop us a note at businessdevelopment@goape.com and tell us what you think about Go Ape and why you think a course in your area would make your community go bananas!