Thoughts from the Director: Las Vegas

Today was the day I had booked my Canyon Flight tour. This is basically where they hook you up to a zip line and you speed down the mountain on a sling.

I needed to grab a shuttle to my Canyon Flight tour from the Excalibur Casino, which is actually at the other end of the strip to the Riviera. I allowed myself an hour but found that I had under estimated the distance by about ten minutes. This meant an increasingly speedy power walk as I neared the Excalibur Hotel. The Canyon Flight shuttle departs from the tour bus rotunda which is at the back of the casino. This means that if you come in the front door of the Excalibur then you need to walk all the way through the casino to the back to find the rotunda.

When I arrived I was little ‘hot and sweaty’ so I walked around looking for a pickup point. Not finding anything I asked some people who looked liked they may also be waiting Canyon Flights and to my relief they were. Phew.

The shuttle arrived soon and made its way to Canyon Flights, which is about a 25 minute drive from the Excalibur. Upon arrival we checked in, signed an indemnity form stating that we held Canyon Flights not liable for anything that happened to us and then continued into the ‘prep’ area. Here we put on our harnesses (which are like those use in paragliding) and listened to a safety lecture from one of our guides.

With that all done we piled back into the van and headed up the mountain to the first stage, which is about a 10 minute drive.

The view from the top of the mountain is spectacular and the weather was marvellous – sunny, not too hot, clear with a light breeze to cool things off. From up here you can see Lake Mead, and even where the Hoover Dam is.

We hiked a little bit further up the mountain from our drop off point to the first zip line.

There are four lines running the mountain. You get attached to the cable via a flying fox arrangement to which your harness is clipped. During the descent there are basically two different positions. The first is called the starfish, which is basically designed to provide the most wind resistance and slow your speed down. Here you basically stand in the harness so your whole body is facing forward like a starfish. The next position is used when you come into the landing. Here you lean back in your harness with your feet apart and your arms straight. The idea is that as the brakes on the zip line pull you up your legs swing up (and since they are apart they don’t hit anything) and back, eventually coming to a stop.

I was not in the initial four that went down but there were certainly a few concerned looks as people settled into their harnesses waiting to go down.

Next it was my turn, so I was hooked up to the line and sat there waiting the all clear from below. In a matter of seconds I was flying down the mountain as probably about 80 kph. This lasted probably about 30 – 45 seconds. As you approach the landing platform the guide gives you hand signals on whether you are to remain in the starfish position or assume the landing position (legs apart and leaning back). After taking the landing position I can tell it you it was a bit of a shock when I hit the brakes on the line as it swung me right up. Now this probably has more to do with the momentum I am carrying down the mountain given my weight, but the first time is a shock.

In the above shots you can see the landing deck as well as the brakes they put on the zip line to stop you.

With everyone down safely we moved to the second zip line. Here we learnt a new position to maintain, this time called streamline. Here you lie back (much like the landing position) and have you legs together (unlike the landing position). This position is aimed at providing the lead amount of wind resistance and the greatest speed. We were given a point on the run where we need to change from streamline to starfish to slow our approach to the landing platform.

This run wasn’t quite as long or as steep and actually had a portion at the end where the zip line went up. This meant that if you didn’t maintain a good enough speed towards the end you would get stuck short of the platform and need to be ‘rescued’.

Again, I went in the second group as it made it easier for the guide on the receiving platform to know who was coming down each line as each person was a different weight.

Soon I was off again, speeding above the canyon floor in my streamline position. I reached the pre-designated location and changed position into starfish to slow down. As I approached the landing platform the guide had me go into streamline again to increase speed. It took a little time for this to register because I was simply expecting the see the landing position. I finally received the landing position signal and again smacked into the brakes. Luckily, I at least made it to the platform unlike some other who had to be rescued. Little did I realize that my turn would come.

From the end of the second stage we had to hike up about 30 metres to the next platform. This third run is the longest run on the tour as well as the longest zip line run in the U.S.

Again, I waited while the first four took their turn. Unfortunately, given the length of the run and a small amount of uphill incline at the end three out of four didn’t make it to the platform. In fact one of them ended up more than 100 metres from the platform.

The guides ‘rescued’ the two closest people but left the furthest person until both guides were on the landing platform since it would require a good deal of manual work to haul them in.

Again, after being hooked up, I was flying down the run at a real clip. I had no problems at reaching the landing platform. In fact I had enough speed when I landed to bounce back away from the platform and slide back to almost as far away as the person stuck initially. This now meant I was stranded high in the air with about 100m drop below me to the canyon floor. Well at least I had a nice view.

To rescue us, the guide had to shimmy back along my neighbours line with a rope attached. After he had hooked up with the initial person and drawn level with my position he tossed me a line which I connected up and was then hauled in. Hard work for these guys and boy do they do a fantastic job!

So this time things would be different. Not only was I going to go first, since the two ‘big boys’ went together, we would be standing on the platform together and simply stepping off. The other thing about this last run is that it is very short but very steep. You hit speed very quickly and stop with a thud.

Luckily, this time I managed to stop and make the platform. It was also good to actually get to see someone come down the line after you. Again, the guide had to do a huge amount of work resetting the brakes after our arrival in preparation for the next group.

Finally, with everyone safely on the landing platform we packed up the equipment and headed back to the Canyon Flights office. From here we grabbed the shuttle back to the Excalibur. I gotta say that if you have the opportunity to do something like this I’d highly recommend it, I had a ball. The other thing was that the all the people, but especially the guides, at Canyon Flights were magic. They really worked hard to make it an enjoyable time for everyone and I can’t recommend them enough. Well done guys and if you make to Australia let me know and I’ll buy you a beer.

The whole trip from pick up to drop off took about 5 hours. The interesting things is that on the way back they guides said they do night time tours where they start you off at dusk and finish at night. In this case everyone wears headlamps and the guides use lighted batons (like for aircraft to guide you in). When I come back I gotta do one of these.

Now back at the Excalibur I decided I need a rest so I took a break at Starbucks. From what I' can see there is a Starbucks in every casino. Maybe you should get a prize if you buy something from each? From here I headed back out to the strip to take some more photos.

Luxor

Tropicana

New York, New York

MGM Grand

Excalibur

I went into the MGM Grand and found they have a ‘lion enclosure’ so I went in for a look.

It has a glass room so as you can see you get to see the lions lazing about above you. They also have a special enclosure for lion cubs. In true Las Vegas style you can pay to have a picture taken with the lion cubs. You just gotta love the focus of this town.

Excalibur

New York, New York

One of the other sites of Las Vegas that I really wanted to see were the fountains of the Bellagio, which put on a display every half hour. Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time and managed to take these shots.

The whole things is choreographed to music and is very impressive.

After the Bellagio, I dropped in on The Mirage to see what changes had been made since I was last here. It is very similar but there still is significant change. This is probably because it has been bought by MGM.