Maryland & Virginia Beach "Iron Monkey" Events Climb New Heights Winning Challenge Industry Award - More Events Planned For 2016

March 2, 2016 - Spirits were high at Outdoor Ventures on January 30, 2016, as it was awarded the "Outstanding Special Event" trophy for its 2015 "Iron Monkey" climbing competition which was held at two of its Adventure Park locations. Presented by the Association for Challenge Course Technology at its annual conference, held in Austin, TX, the award recognizes an exceptionally innovative event or activity.

Outdoor Ventures' two inaugural Iron Monkey races were held at its Adventure Parks at Sandy Spring, Maryland, and at Virginia Aquarium, in Virginia Beach. Over seventy-five local athletes participated as they climbed, zipped, jumped, and muscled through the parks' various obstacles as quickly as they could, competing for the fastest time. Unlike the parks' usual aerial adventure experience, designed to provide a novel treetop experience for visitors of all ability levels, the Iron Monkey is designed to appeal to athletes looking to compete.

The Maryland and Virginia Iron Monkey events were the first of their kind to combine the two types of attractions, uniting the rising popularity of aerial adventure parks together with competitive obstacle races. The Association for Challenge Course Technology, which oversees industry standards for ropes courses, aerial adventure parks, and other aerial attractions, recognized this innovative thinking as they presented the award at their 26th annual conference, which saw over 1,000 attendees.

"It's an honor to receive this award," said Bahman Azarm, president of Outdoor Ventures, "We were going for a different market here, and we're excited to see where this can go."

"This is only the beginning," echoed John Hines, partner in Outdoor Ventures. With successes at both the Sandy Spring, MD and Virginia Beach, VA locations, more events are slated at Outdoor Ventures Adventure Parks in 2016.

- About Outdoor Ventures & The Adventure Parks -
Outdoor Ventures is the leading authority in the United States on aerial forest parks and largely responsible for bringing this increasingly popular activity to the United States from Europe where it originated. It has designed and built numerous aerial parks across the USA for clients and currently operates eight itself: The Adventure Park at The Discovery Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut; The Adventure Park at Storrs, Connecticut; The Adventure Park at Frankenmuth, Michigan; The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring Friends School in Maryland (the largest aerial forest park in the United States); The Adventure Park at West Bloomfield, Michigan; The Adventure Park at Virginia Aquarium on the grounds of The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, located at Virginia Beach, The Adventure Park at Long Island located in Wheatley Heights (town of Babylon) and The Adventure Park at Heritage Museums & Gardens (in partnership with Heritage) in Sandwich, Massachusetts.

For more information visit the individual websites of each of Outdoor Ventures eight parks via www.FunInTheTrees.com. Or contact Anthony Wellman, Communications Director, Outdoor Ventures, 1700 Post Road, Suite C-16, Fairfield, CT 06824. Telephone: (203) 583-3021 or email Anthony@InTheTreetops.com.