Intrepid KATHERINE MACALISTER and sons take to the trees at Go Ape.

OMG!” My son shrieked. “That was so fast I didn’t even have time to scream!”

Welcome to Go Ape where screams are plentiful and speed the norm.

And if you have teenage children it’s a great way to blow off steam and let your hair down without a computer screen in sight.

The only problem is, you have to do it with them!

Yes, the smallprint produced a small squeal when I agreed to take my two lads to Go Ape in Wendover, 20 minutes up the A40, to swing about in the trees like monkeys. Because if children are between 10 and 18, as mine are, they need a supervising adult to accompany them, and “participating adults may not supervise from the ground.”

Damn, so there we were, the three of us, in jeans, trainers and some weird contraption you have to step into, being trained to go up in the trees.

All the other mums were reading Grazia and eating sandwiches while their macho husbands headed into the Wendover forest. But not this one.

Instead I was busy interrogating my poor trainer about the reality of ‘going ape’. “Hang on, let me get this right. You’re going to let me on this three-hour adventure via a series of swings, ladders and zip wires, high above the forest canopy, on my own?” I ask incredulously, before adding: “Is that wise?”

The poor man has seen and heard it all before, but luckily the training is thorough, safety is paramount, and you are clipped on at all times.

And before we knew it we were kitted out and poised to embark on a unique adventure. And boy was it fun!

And not only fun, but exciting, stimulating, energetic and challenging all at the same time.

Suffice to say the boys loved it, tackling every new death-defying trail with alacrity while mum desperately tried to keep up and maintain a calm front at all times, except when I yelped, cursed and closed my eyes at a particularly daunting height or long zip wire.

But adventure aside, the best thing about Go Ape is that you get to be a kid all over again. And for that alone Go Ape is priceless.

* For more information go to goape.co.uk or call 0845 6439215. The costs are: Gorillas (18 years plus): £30. Baboons ( 10-17 years): £20.