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#1 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 26 April 2007 - 09:56 AM

Zipwest caters to thrillseekers behind 17 Mile Pub in Sooke
Darron Kloster, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, April 26, 2007
Thrill seekers, head west to the 17 Mile Pub.

In behind the historic roadhouse on the West Coast Road, you're going to get the ride of your life.

Zipwest Eco Adventure Tours is a new business that hooks people to steel wires and sends them hurtling down steep grades over various distances.


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Font: ****There are apparently great views of the Sooke Basin and surrounding rainforest, if you can bear to watch.

The eight-line course -- the longest is more than 300 metres -- takes about 90 minutes and is set to tentatively open on May 19. Similar courses have opened in places such as Whistler over the past few years.

Zipwest is owned by Scott McQueen and Jeremy Wilson, a partner in 17 Mile Pub and Liquor Store and former owner of Blues Brothers Bartending. Andrea Carey, former marketing director for Frontrunners Footwear who now operates her own consulting company, is operations manager.

Carey said yesterday the course is still under construction. She said the partners have been environmentally cautious in preparing the site, trimming trees and logging only sparingly and using collars to anchor lines from trees. Some towers have also been constructed where trees were not available.

The course covers about 100 acres and there will be flora and fauna as well as historical information about the area along the zip-line route.

Patrons will go through a practice routine before tackling the course, which is guided throughout. The rest of the lines range from 60 to 150 metres in length.

The plan is to stay open until October, said Carey. Call 642-1933 or click http://www.zipwest.ca
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#2 amor de cosmos

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Posted 26 April 2007 - 11:06 AM

i don't remember much about sooke but that sounds wicked.

#3 Holden West

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Posted 26 April 2007 - 12:15 PM

What would that be like on mushrooms?
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#4 G-Man

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Posted 26 April 2007 - 12:22 PM

^Scary. Better to stick to Lucky.

Visit my blog at: https://www.sidewalkingvictoria.com 

 

It has a whole new look!

 


#5 Jada

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Posted 27 April 2007 - 08:45 AM

This is great! Finally someone is awakening to the fact that tourists (and locals) want more than just tea and crumpets at the Empress.

#6 Barra

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Posted 01 May 2007 - 09:01 PM

I'll go!
Pieta VanDyke

#7 gumgum

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Posted 01 August 2009 - 07:17 PM

I did this today with my wife and it was incredible!
(It's called Adrenaline now btw.)

I highly, highly recommend this for thrill seekers and normals alike.

After each person takes "training run" on a short, low cable, it all starts with a hair raising ride up the hill/ mountain on a specially modified ATV with a roll bar attached. This is an experience in itself. You're safely strapped in, no doubt, but the ride is clearly meant as a an adrenalin "starter" before the main course.

Once at the top you then take turns traversing a short suspension bridge off a cliff face to a platform wrapped around the halfway point of a tall tree. It's from there that you take your first real zipline. This first line is called "Commitment" because once you traverse this one, you can never go back. Each line runs high up from tree to tree and there is no way to get down once you cross "Commitment".
That first one was the scariest. But then waiting in this small platform for other zipliners, very high up in the air, was nerve-racking as well.
The cables run from about 200 to 1000 feet, also varying in steepness/ speed.
As you progress down the mountain, you get more and more comfortable. The fear for me never really relented, but with each zipline I was more able to control my fear and simply enjoy the experience.
My brave wife is well known for her fear of heights. She has, in fact, suffered minor panic attacks on driftwood logs as low as a couple of feet in the air. She however ended up having a lot of fun. So much fun that she's talking about doing it again. I think she believes she has conquered some of that phobia today which is a relief to both of us. (I think it could have gone either way.)

The staff are professional and safety driven, and yet are able to calm the herd with the occasional off-the-wall joke. The biggest challenge I'm sure they face is dealing with the odd panicked person on one of those small platforms a hundred feet above terra firma, with nowhere to go. They would have to be very good at their job just to have the ability to handle a situation like that promptly before that person becomes a liability to himself or other members in the group.

I would recommend this to anyone who's seeking a bit of adventure - for those who want to mix it up a bit, yet don't fancy shitting themselves at the end of a bungee cord, or under a parachute.

5 out of 5.





#8 amor de cosmos

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Posted 01 August 2009 - 07:22 PM

I did this today with my wife and it was incredible!
(It's called Adrenaline now btw.)


how long did it take?

#9 gumgum

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Posted 01 August 2009 - 07:26 PM

The whole thing took about 2 hours and it was $75 per person.

 



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