I've been strapped like Superman into a harness, after bumping up a mountain in Snowdonia in an ex-Army truck for 15 minutes, and now I am about to be fired down a mountainside and above Penrith slate quarry at 100 miles per hour. This is Velocity, the world's fastest zip wire operated by the brilliant team at North Wales Zip World, and with headset attached I am ready to record the thilling sensations as I prepare to soar like an eagle - or perhaps an Exocet missile - over the blue slate quarry lake several hundred meters below me.

After a series of safety checks, the countdown begins in Welsh - worryingly, the second digit sounds too much like the word 'die'. As I am untethered from the foam platform where I have been poised to fly after numerous safety checks, I feel an incredible rushing sensation as I start to soar ever faster down the tiny wire.

In the distance, one mile away, and far down the bottom of the mountain, is the landing zone. I pick up speed; the fact I am travelling at 100 miles per hour is revealed by the piercing pain of my small necklace being rammed repeatedly against my cheek. But with arms, pressed tight against my sides as instructed, the sensation is sublime.

This is an experience to leave all rollercoasters standing in the dust. Here, there is nothing but a wire no thicker than my index finger between me and oblivion. My partner Kev is on the adjacent zip wire, and travelling slightly ahead of me as our headsets record the blisteringly-fast 60-second ascent that has cost just under £100. It is only after we have descended down the mountain and are levelling out across a forest that we realise how fast we have been flying. I feel like a plane coming into land at Heathrow.

With speed shaved off, we are now travelling at only 40 miles per hour, but that's still incredibly fast when you are headfirst and human. After a total of 60 seconds, the brakes on the landing pad dramatically slow my ascent. A long pole is passed up to me, which I grab to steady myself, as my feet are untethered.

The feeling is one of euphoria. And, immediately, I want to do it all again - it might just be the UK's most exciting day out and it makes Alton Towers look tame in comparison.