Interesting story about the Edge Walk. Back in 2012, we were invited to a wedding up at a synagogue in Hamilton, ON. Never having been to Canada, we decided to make it into a Grand Loop around Lake Ontario. Flew into JFK, and spent the night near Penn Station. The next morning, it was on to Montréal by way of Amtrak’s Adirondack service up the Hudson.
Terminated at Gare centrale de Montréal / Montreal Central Station staying at Le Reine Élizabeth / Queen Elizabeth Hotel which sits atop the station. Toured the city for two days, then it was on to Toronto by VIA Rail. Got off at Toronto Union Station which was in the midst of a C$ 1 billion restoration. So, it’s total chaos.
Had already pre-booked the Edge Walk, but unbeknownst to us was that it was also the same day as the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup match between the Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders being held down the street at Rogers Centre stadium. So, everybody was arriving for the game by any means possible using GO (Government of Ontario) Transit buses, commuter trains, and the Toronto Subway.
So, here we were with our luggage trying to move across this tide of humanity to go under Front Street and get to the car rental counter below the Toronto-Dominion Bank. It was truly like a scene from ‘The Amazing Race.’
So, we ditch our luggage in the rental garage and hustle down Front Street to CN Tower. The Edge Walk requires reservations for a group of 8 to go topside, and there was a secure check-in process (along with the usual indemnity waiver signing). It was truly like going through an airport, because once you’re inside the secure zone, you can’t go back outside.
The harness was sewn into the jump suit. And, there was a large D-ring on the front and back. Once all pockets were emptied, wristwatches were taken off and left in a locker, rings were taped over, and eyeglasses were secured with a lanyard while cellphones/cameras were left behind, then it was a quick trip up 1100 feet in a glass bottom elevator.
Our group guide gave our orientation on the ground, then accompanied us up top. Off of the elevator, was a small vestibule with a stairway leading out to the ledge. The overhead track had two loops which came down from the ledge into the vestibule. Each of us was clipped in with a strap on the chest and the other over the back. The big carabiners were then zip-tied closed, so no easy way to disengage and try to make a run/jump. The two lines were always in constant tension to take up any slack.
One by one we went out on to the ledge. As we were locked into a group session, there was no way to chicken out unless you were the rearmost participant. But, while we were on the outer track our group leader was on the inner parallel track. He had to learn all of our first names, and would call out to each of us during the different challenges on the walk. All the while, he had a POV camera on his helmet.
The thing that was most notable was the whistling sound. The ledge was made out of grated decking material, and the September wind was clocking anywhere from 25 kph to 80 kph. Our first challenge was ‘Toes over Toronto.’ This had us standing to the edge and wiggle our toes while then letting loose of the slack line. The thing you figure out is being secure in your harness and aware of your feet. It wasn’t a bungie jump, so if you slipped and fell, you would only make it down a few feet while the tensioners in the overhead line would lock.
The odd thing was the depth perception. Anything that was over a few feet to a few thousand feet was simply down. As long as you knew where your line and your feet were, that was all that mattered.
So, after doing ‘Toes over Toronto’ then it was a walk around the edge for a quarter turn, and time to do a ‘Backwards Lean Out.’ That required sitting down in the harness until the slack line was reached, then you slowly shimmied backwards with your butt over Toronto, pushing out and then letting go of the line.
Once that was accomplished, then it was another quarter turn walk around the tower. Now, we were standing over Toronto Union Station. Being towards the north side of the tower, the wind was picking up. But, it was on to the next challenge, a ‘Forward Lean Out.’ You guessed it, one is deliberately leaning forward of their center of gravity, hanging 1100 feet over Toronto. For the really daring, you were encouraged to do a little ‘Extra’ by extending out on your toes instead of just being flat footed. I passed on the ‘Extra.’
Once done, we moved another quarter turn around the tower. By this time, the next group was coming up to do their ‘Toes over Toronto.’ We did some photo ops for our guide, some lean outs, whatever just to kill some time. We were over Rogers Centre by this point, but couldn’t watch the game as they had closed the dome.
Wrapping up, we walked around to the vestibule, had our zip ties cut, and proceeded to the elevator heading back down to the base camp.
Total. Rush.
