Zipline & Bobsled at Canada Olympic Park
Sunday September 8 & Tuesday September 24, 2013
The actual goal here was just the zipline. I went to Mexico in May and had the opportunity to zipline there, but decided to wait and do it in Calgary because of how special it is that these facilities are accessible to us. They are remaining 1988 Olympic facilities.
We went to the park in the afternoon on Sunday September 8th and got all suited up for the zipline. First, we were going to do the practice run, then the tallest run, then the middle one that would bring us back to where we started.
We went outside to the practice run and my dad and I got right in there, volunteering to go first. Flying through the air is fun! Why hold back?
They told us how to hold our legs, what to do with our arms, when to brace, all the good stuff. Then we zipped down the first line, laughing at each other as we went.
It's a great thing we wanted to go first, because the moment we got to the bottom, we found out that there was lightening in the area. All zipline runs were shut down from that moment on. The rest of the group walked to the bottom (it was only about 100 feet long) and missed out on any zipping that day. They didn't know if the closure would last for an hour, or the rest of the day, so we were told not to wait around. It's a good thing we were able to reschedule, because they were closed for the rest of the day.
Even with the closure, we were able to do the bobsled that day, which was great. We piled into a van and got a ride to the top of the hill. We went into the booth at the top and waited for our turn. And waited.... and waited...
Finally we got our chance.
Again, I volunteered to sit at the front. So it was me, my dad, two other people that we didn't know and the driver. What a great job that would be!
We squished in and held on tight. Our ride lasted about a minute and we got up to around 90km/hr on those 14 turns! Again, my dad and I were laughing and hooting the whole way down the hill. It was so much fun!
The park was able to reschedule our zipline for Tuesday September 24th. We went in the evening, which was really cool with the evening light. This time there was almost no chance of lightening (I say almost because it's Calgary. You know what I mean), so we were excited. We got all geared up and went out for the test run again.
Then they packed us into the van and we went to the top of the hill. The second run is from the tallest point in Calgary; the top of the Olympic ski jump. Heights make me a little nervous, but I felt completely comfortable up there. We got all strapped in and then they released us. We were so high up, but it felt completely safe. My dad suddenly got a burst of speed and he flew past me so quickly! The website says the run was 500m long, with a drop of 100m, with speeds up to 120-140km/hr. It didn't feel like we were going that fast but it sure was an incredible rush!
We had one more run to go. It went from the bottom of the second run back to where we had started. It was about a quarter of the length of the previous one. This time the instructors asked if anyone wanted to go upside down. Of course we did! They taught us how (basically just flip your legs up) and away we went. It was so much fun to try it from a completely different view. That one was over way too quickly!
And then we were finished. It was all over way too quickly, but so worth it! We went for greasy appetizers and beer afterwards, because that's the right thing to do when you've flown down a hill at over 100km an hour!
No comments:
Post a Comment