November 14, 2004 in Travel

Ziptrek ride harnesses fun, adventure

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It was an act of faith: launching ourselves off a platform to whiz along a cable at 50 mph across a river, a fifth of a mile from tree to tree, 12 stories up.

Thanks to Ziptrek Ecotours, high-tree canopy travel has arrived in North America, complete with adrenaline-pounding thrills and seriously neat scenery. It’s all tucked into the forest at Whistler Blackcomb and is way more than you expect.

We figured it was going to be a slide or two, all of it over in maybe half an hour. Nope. After a brief van ride, then a snowcat ride, we were dropped off at a deep-woods hut, shown a tangle of webbing and metal clips and helped into a body harness. Then it was off to the trees.

But first, a bit of eco talk. This, our guide Ryan said, is one of the few remaining old-growth temperate rain forests. A quarter of what’s left of the world’s supply is in British Columbia. He showed us how to tell old growth (all the lower limbs have dropped off and the trees are, expectedly, very tall) from newer growth (with dense lower limbs and smaller, shorter trunks).

Mostly what’s here is hemlock, Douglas firs and cedars – a 10,000-year-old forest on the Whistler side of the creek, 100-year-old second growth after logging on the Blackcomb side. All of this is just minutes from the ski resort, but tucked so far into a deep valley that you can’t see the skiers and they can’t see you.

Ryan also spent an inordinate amount of time carefully – very carefully – explaining the safety aspects of Ziptrek. There are 10 platforms made of sturdy, weather-resistant cedar and four cables across Fitzsimmons Creek, all built to U.S., Canadian, Austrian and Swiss ski lift and gondola standards.

All of which kind of fades into the white noise of background anxiety while you’re standing there, 75 feet up in a tree.

But what did impress is that we were always clipped into something – either a cable on the tree or the cable over the river. Actually, we were clipped in twice and Ryan had his hand on our harness until the very moment we kicked off.

Yes, it was an act of faith – not as bad as bungee jumping, but bad enough for someone petrified of heights. But you don’t exactly dangle by your tender parts. The harness is more like a chair. And so the whole thing felt somewhat like being in a swing.

We let go and gravity did the rest, sending us sliding speedily down the cable at speeds up to 50 mph across Fitzsimmons Creek, where an ingenious braking system stopped us dead. A guide then hauled us onto the platform.

The trees on the bank became a green blur as they fell away. Below, the rushing water kicked up froth between snow-covered rocks and the world became a monochrome of white and black with a hint of soft olive.

This is a year-round activity, but in winter there is a special touch of softness from the snow.

After a test zip across a 60-foot line just a few feet off the ground, we went to the real thing. Four times, we zipped across the creek from a height, at one point, taller than a 12-story building. Imagine sliding on a cable between two very, very, very high rooftops with rushing traffic instead of a river below.

But, of course, it was a lot quieter than city traffic. Except for the giggling and war whooping of the folks on the cable – including us.

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