A few weeks ago Rick Mercer cracked a joke on Twitter about Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s new mountain coaster. It’s all of the thrill of the skiing, with no exercise required.
He was close. After riding The Pipe twice on Friday, I would say it’s more like mountain biking, but without the need to brake, or the worry that some root or rock will bump you off the trail, into a tree.
I mean that in a good way. There are moments that are mellow, where you might want to go faster, and others that are genuinely thrilling as you fly around bends through the forest at full throttle.
RMR held a friends and media day on Friday, a day before the official opening of The Pipe to the public on Saturday. To say this thing has been hyped is an understatement. The video promoting the ride went viral and has been watched almost two millions time on Facebook and YouTube. National media outlets have done stories on it, and smaller ones from all over the world have picked up on it.
I rode up the gondola with the Review’s publisher, Mavis Cann, the morning show crew from Stoke FM, Peter Worden from Reved, and David Rooney from the Revelstoke Current. We were given a quick safety briefing, buckled up, and lined up for the ride down.
The Pipe gets you going right away, and next thing you know, you’re caroming towards a culvert under the mountain road. My instincts kick in and I duck a little; of course, there’s plenty of head room. You emerge from the tunnel to a brief view of the Monashee Mountains before the track whips to the right and coasts along a ski run before once again arcing down the mountain and into the trees.
The coaster works so that you have to actively engage the throttle to keep it at top speed. If you ease off or let go, it slows down. I kept my hands on the throttle to stay at full speed as it twisted and turned in and out of the forest. I leaned into the turns and let the cart do its thing.
I passed a sign surrounded by big red lights. “Caution if lights are flashing,” it said. I briefly wondered why the lights might flash, but suddenly, the track plummeted down a drop and into a stand of trees before ripping around a tight left hand corner. I went ripping through the forest, back out into the open and down another steep drop and into sweeping right hand turn back into the woods. I let go a cheer, or something approximating a cheer.
If I were on my mountain bike, I definitely would have been squeezing the brakes, but here I was leaning forward, both hands on the throttle. Most of the ride isn’t that fast and there’s a mechanism in place to make sure you don’t exceed the top speed for 42 kilometre per hour.
It took less than three minutes to get to the bottom. After the thrills through the trees, the bottom section was relatively mellow as I coasted to the bottom of the gondola.
Of course, I went twice.
What’s my take? It’s worth giving it a go at least once. The thrill seekers amongst us will have fun, but they won’t be overwhelmed. It was pretty awesome to take those corners at top speed, but there are other parts I wanted to go even faster, but physics wouldn’t let me.
Those who don’t get their kicks riding bikes through the forest will get to enjoy that experience, but with the assurance they won’t get hurt. On your first try you’ll probably let the throttle go a few times when it really gets going. On the second go, you’ll keep it open.
Either way, I see this being a draw and it will definitely be a hit. It’s great for kids and people will turn off the highway to ride it. Hopefully RMR complements it with more trails and summer operations at the top of Mount Mackenzie in the coming years to fully build up summer operations.
The Pipe opens Saturday, May 21, at 10 a.m. Visit the Revelstoke Mountain Resort website for more information and ticket prices.
