| rev:text
| - This was an incredible experience and worth every penny.
I'm afraid of heights. I hate roller coasters. I really hate ferris wheels and ski lifts. But when I heard about Edge Walk, it sounded like such an amazing experience. I found myself in Toronto and bought a ticket.
I tried to pick carefully, looking at the weather for the next few days. Edge Walk is NON REFUNDABLE, and if your walk is cancelled due to weather, you can reschedule for up to a year, but no refunds. If you don't live in Toronto, this is a problem, so be aware of it! I picked a nice sunny looking morning, 9:30 AM, one of the first walks of the day.
The night before, my stomach was in knots. That morning, I felt even worse. My hands shook as I drove to the tower, and I felt my stomach drop as I looked up at it.
I seriously considered chickening out. After signing a two page waiver (talking about all sorts of terrible ways I might, but probably won't, die), I went to the cafeteria area to buy myself a ginger ale to hopefully settle my stomach.
I came back to the "Base Camp" ten minutes before my scheduled time, and met the others who would be walking with me. One of them was more nervous than I was, which weirdly made me feel better.
First we were all given a breathalyzer test, then we watched a safety video as they explained some of the procedures to us. They also use a metal detector on you. hen it was time to suit up! All jewelery, hair pins, and that kind of stuff had to be removed. They provide lockers free of charge to stow your belongings, and your locker key attaches right to your provided jumpsuit. They also check to make sure your shoes are appropriate, if not, they provide sneakers. After you are in your harness, it is checked at least four times, by four different people, which made me feel a lot better already. Then we met our guide, Steven. He was so awesome. He was very relaxed, enthusiastic, and funny, which also put me at ease. Then we were ready to go!
We entered the elevator, which has a glass front and a glass bottom. As I don't like moving at heights, I stared straight up at the (non glass) ceiling. My knees were weak, but I was determined to do this.
Up at the top you are attached to a rail, and the guide's rail runs parallel so he can move among the group. Once you are attached to the rail, there is no backing out!
As soon as I walked out of the door, my fear dissipated. The view was totally incredible. I felt safe in the equipment and I could not get enough of the view. It was too awesome to be scary!
Our guide led us in some "activities", starting at the tame (hanging your toes over the edge) and building up to the daring (dangling your whole body over the edge) as you walk around the tower. By the time we reached the door again and saw the other group meekly emerging from the door for their walk, we were totally relaxed and exhilarated, and confidently waved at them and cheered them on.
The guide was totally awesome, and did a great job helping the wimps in our group. He was so positive and fun that he really did make you feel so much more confident. By a few minutes into the walk, I felt great. He was really wonderful with the girl who was more freaked out than I was. She really seemed to want to do the "activities", but was scared. He was great at walking her through it and working at her pace and she did everything with the group. You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but she seemed to want to do it despite her fear, and he expertly coached her through it.
Towards the end of the walk there is a break so everyone can get some photos taken. Included with your admission price you get a little folder with a certificate (where my name was spelled wrong, totally my fault for entering it incorrectly on the website. nervous typing!), two photos (an individual photo and a group photo), and a DVD of the highlights of your walk (the guide is wearing a helmet camera the whole time). My only complaint here is that you don't get to choose the photos. I would have opted for a different individual photo instead of the group shot because I went by myself and I didn't know any of the other people in the group. (And I also had the guide take a really funny one where I looked totally bored and unimpressed while leaning over the edge. Wish I could have gotten that one!) You also get admission to the different observation decks on the tower (the indoor one, the outdoor one with the glass floor, and the sky pod). I think you also get admission to the 3D movie they have but I didn't bother doing that.
I felt so great after the Edge Walk, I gazed out the glass front and bottom of the elevator on our way down. And I went and danced on the glass floor of the glass floor level, horrifying the onlookers. (Probably my bad dancing, though.)
It was expensive. But it was a once in a lifetime experience and I think you get very good value for it.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)