It’s called the Hawk Excursion Half Tour because part of the 2.3-kilometre ride near the top of Mount Washington has not been completed.
However, that wasn’t stopping Mandy Conlin and Trevor Kudryk from being the first members of the public to try out the bottom two legs of the zip line when it opened Tuesday.
“I’m excited, really excited,” said Conlin before heading up the Hawk chair lift.
Resort staff say there has been a great deal of public interest leading up to Tuesday’s opening.
“It’s a $3.5 million investment into our summer operations so obviously it’s going to create a lot of buzz around Vancouver Island and afar so we’ve had a lot of people calling in, texting, emailing, asking when are you guys opening?” said Mount Washington spokesperson Sheila Rivers.
Kudryk and Conlin have been waiting for it to open as well.
“We just booked it this morning,” said Kudryk. ” We dropped the kids off at daycare and didn’t realize we were going to be the very first people here but we are.”
When asked if she was a bit nervous, Conlin replied, “Maybe a little bit. More excited than nervous.”
So far, only part of the 2.3-km Zip Tour is open. When complete, it will be four sections that will require a bit of walking between each leg.
Currently, the two bottom sections, spans 3 and 4, which represent the majority of the ride, are open.
“Span three is 501 metres long and that’s got a 24 per cent grade on it and span four is 723 metres long with an 18 per cent grade,” said Rivers.
“I’d recommend it to anyone, it’s awesome. Such a rush,” said Conlin.
“It was very fun, fast and scenic. Super cool,” added Kudryk.
Mount Washington says the zip line will be open primarily on weekends right through to Thanksgiving.
The upper part of the zip line will open next summer.
Dean Stoltz
