After a fantastic day on the Blackcomb slopes, we woke up the next day with aches all over our bodies but that didn’t deter us from completing our adventures in Whistler!
We signed our whole family up to zip line through the gorgeous mountains of Whistler. Since Bridgette was 1 year shy of the requirements for their famous Eagle Tour, which included a “2000′ awe-inspiring monster that drops over 20 stories,” she and I signed up for their Bear Tour instead while Alan joined the Eagle Tour. The Bear Tour is no kiddie joke though. It boasts “five incredible ziplines joined by a network of suspension bridges, boardwalks and trails.”
Our group included 1 woman about my age, and her two daughters who were 11 and 13 years old. We had 2 tour guides that accompanied us, and took great care of all of us, especially Bridgette! After getting all our gears on, and a brief safety intro, our tour began with a trial zip on one of the shorter lines at the base of Blackcomb Mountain. That was, as Brianne and Bridgette would say, “easy peasy lemon squeezy.” 🙂
We then hopped into a van and drove further up into the mountains, where we had to trek quite a bit of ways to get from one zip lining platform to the next. Our guides were very informative along the way, educating us on the thousand year old trees and the fascinating forest that surrounded us.
We trekked and trekked, and much to my surprise, Bridgette did not complain even once about being tired. She was a real trooper, with a big smile on her face even as we trekked uphill in the snow!
The higher we climbed, the more glorious the view became. We were all in awe at the beauty around us, though my knees became a bit weak whenever I peeked down at the creek below us.
I felt like I was in a painting. That was how beautiful the forest looked from our arial view up on the treetop platforms.
There were a few lines that were extra long and had a 60 lb. weight requirement, so Bridgette had to go tandem with one of the guides. She felt really special that their tandem speed exceeded all of ours!
For our last zip line, the guides encouraged us to zip upside down. None of us had the courage to do so, except my little daredevil daughter who kept jumping up and down asking to go first. She certainly takes after her daddy and has a hunger for adrenaline!
When we arrived back at the village after our zip line tour, we browsed around the shops and took an ice cream break while Alan moved onto his next adventure at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
When I was doing research for our Whistler trip awhile back, I came across the website to Whistler Sliding Center, the site of the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton competitions for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Alan was thrilled to learn that the bobsleigh and skeleton were both available to the general public. I had him pick one or the other, as CAD $159 for an activity that lasts under 60 seconds seemed absurdly expensive to me. It would be equally crazy not to try it though, for an adrenaline junkie like Alan, since this is not the type of sport one could safely try in too many places in the world.
Alan picked the skeleton slide, which is described as:
Your Skeleton Slide Experience begins with a sport orientation, including helmet fitting, sled familiarization, track etiquette, safety guidelines and a mock run. After orientation staff will escourt you to the start position, also known as the Maple Leaf Start situated 1/3 of the way up the track. With a final safety check and briefing from the Whistler Sliding Centre Track Crew, you’ll be ready for action! A Track Crew member will secure the sled while you climb on and ready yourself. The green light signals your release and you’re off! As you navigate your way down the track’s six corners, expect to reach a maximum speed of 100 km/hr. The uphill outrun will slow you to a safe stop at the finish dock, where the Track Crew will assist with the sled and your safe exist. With the adrenaline of your first run still pumping through your blood, you’ll be ready for round two!
According to Alan, it was one of the most thrilling activity he’s ever done!
Personally, I can’t imagine speeding down a slide head first at 100 km/hr, on what seems like an awfully flimsy board, but I’m glad Alan enjoyed it. 🙂
That night, over hot chocolate to keep us warm, we watched the extraordinary Fire and Ice show at the base of Blackcomb Mountain, where skilled skiers and snowboarders performed crazy stunts for us.
The show finished with a grand finale of sparkly fireworks, reminding us that we were just 2 days away from 2013!
Our final post on this trip coming soon…
What a fun trip! Very inspiring for future trips for our girls. Keep the great blog posts and pictures coming. And Bridget has to be the cutest little zip-liner ever!