Patrick Thorne
Ski resorts have been going that extra kilometre since the turn of the century to turn themselves more and more in to year round attractions.
Some of the biggest resorts have built big year-round leisure complexes with indoor-outdoor leisure pools, but for those with only millions of Euros/dollars to spend, rather than tens of millions, there has been a noticeable trend of projects at ski areas around the world.
Recent trends have include building high altitude platforms, often with glass floors, looking out over voids hundreds, sometimes thousands of feet/metres below. You buy a lift pass to get up to this often free attraction. High altitude pedestrian suspension bridges are also increasing in number with the records constantly being broken for the longest/highest and so on. The longest wooden one in the world is currently under construction at a US ski area.
Downhill coasters have been with us for decades now, using ski lifts to reach the top of a downhill mountain (roller) coaster. They’re still popular and so are zipwires, which again keep breaking records for being ever longer or steeper.
Now a genius in Quebec, Canada, has come up with the idea of combining the two. A zipwire with bends. More than bends in fact, spirals of up to 450 degrees, which, with the addition of speed generates centrifugal force.
“As its name suggests, the Zipline Coaster experience is similar to a roller coaster turning through the trees, sometimes spiralling up to 450 degrees, as well as offering climbs and drops, one of which is a five-metre drop over a length of 12 metres,” enthused Nadya Baron of Mont Sutton ski area where the Zipline Coaster is being installed.
“The speed is amplified by the difference in elevation and the accelerations exerted by the centrifugal force. In short, everything is there to live a unique experience high in sensation!” Nadya adds.
The ride will be open to everyone aged 10 years or over. Seated in a harness, visitors will travel under the treetops for what Nadya terms “an extraordinary experience” dotted with curves over a distance of 700 metres.
The Zipline Coaster has cost around $1m to install and will join Canada steepest zipline, a kilometre-long attraction which Mont Sutton unveiled last year. The resort says it has spent over $10m over the past six years positioning it as a 4-season outdoor destination.
Most of the resort’s summer activities will open June 23rd with the zipline coaster’s construction completion date not yet confirmed but targeted for mid-July.
