Thursday 8 March 2012

Checking out Marble Zip Tours in Winter

By Keith and Heather Nicol

      What a great afternoon ! The sun was out, the sky was blue and we were going zip lining at Marble Mountain. We met our guides Reg Flynn and Daniel Kean at the Marble Zip Tours (MZT) office (conveniently located at the base of Marble) for the 2 pm tour.  We had enjoyed zip lining with MZT previously but had not experienced their newest zip line which brings you back to the base of Marble Mountain via their longest and fastest zip line yet! We were fitted out with all the safety gear including harnesses and helmet before heading to the staging area above Steady Brook Falls.
The scenery is spectacular in the winter since Steady Brooks Falls is covered in ice and snow
       Marble Zip Tours has developed their zip lines with safety front and centre. Reg told us that each wire cable can support 16,000 lbs and at MZT they use 2 cables! Zip lining involves attaching 2 wheeled trolleys onto both wire cables and then you launch yourself off the platform whizzing through the air supported by the harness fitted to your body. It is a bit unnerving at first since even the smallest zip lines are dozens of feet above the ground but then the real magic happens as you soar over Steady Brook Gorge on progressively longer zip lines. The ground slips away and you are suspended 285 feet above the ground!  MZT lays claim to the highest zip line in Canada! You get a unique perspective on ice caked Steady Brook Falls as you zip right over top of it and the views down the Humber Valley are spectacular.  Marble Zip Tours has been running for four years and has catered to groups from all over the world. Last winter a bride zipped across in her wedding dress to be married on a platform overlooking the Falls!
The view down is just as amazing since this is the highest zip line in Canada!
        The final zip line is 2000 ft long and with a 9% grade is excitingly fast. “In the right conditions people have hit 80 km/hour” Reg told us. The atmosphere of the whole tour is very congenial. We couldn’t recommend it more highly for a fun event offered 7 days of the week all year round. To book your tour phone 1-887-755-5463 or check them out on the web at http://www.marbleziptours.com
The tour ends at the base of Marble with the ski runs in the background

No comments:

Post a Comment