Edgewalk Toronto review – Awesome but damn expensive

It’s easy to forget how awesome the city you actually live in, can actually be. Toronto is one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, we have amazing and super high quality food everywhere and we have some world class attractions. The latest and greatest of these attractions would be the CN Tower Edgewalk. When you think about it … it’s doesn’t really sound that amazing … “Walking around the edge of a building”, now does it – I mean I’ve walked on a roof before or on the edge of a cliff.

However, when you add “On the roof of the CN Tower’s restaurant 356m/1,168ft above the ground”, then you get something that’s a bit more memorable.

Here are the basic details

Cost

– Tickets are $175* and include keepsake video, photos, certificate of achievement and re-entry to CN Tower
– If you want all the pictures they take out … it’s an extra $16.95 (It’s not cheap at all …!!)

When

– You can do this from the end of May to the beginning of October, but the best month would obviously be June, July, August
– Weather plays a big part in availability and since the CN Tower always gets hit by lightning, you can imagine that there is no edgewalk during rain or thunderstorms

A couple things to know about Edgewalk

– The EdgeWalk is the highest of it kind in the world (1168 feet / 356 metres) – that definitely has some appeal for travellers.
– Participants have to be at least 75 lbs and no more then 310 lbs to go on the walk – hence no little kids or extra large sized people
– They do a breathalyzer test – yep seriously! You have to clock less than .o8 on the breathalyzer. If you’ve had a couple of drinks to stiffen up your courage, you won’t get to walk … so do all your drinking after the fact

Now for the story on our walk …

It was a nice summer day in August and all was well until I convinced two ladies and D* to do this thing with me. To be fair, there wasn’t much convincing required … although we couldn’t do the required drinking until after the fact. Here is everyone before the walk … there were some nerves being exhibited but everyone powered on

First you go to basecamp and sign in (I always refuse to put my personal details on forms – they didn’t like that … I put a fake address and no email … I moved on). Next, you meet up with 2 very professional instructors and you’re told that you can have anything loose up there – like nothing, but they do give you a locker to put your things in, and then the key goes around your neck. If you don’t have shoes or hairties … they will provide it for you. They even have different colour hair ties for the girls.

These guys are all about safety … I counted 11 safety checks overall before we actually got outside. The initial setup and getting ready is pretty easy although having that tight harness around you, isn’t the best feeling in the world for your junk.

Once you get out of the elevator and head out on the rail outside, you’re hit with air, view and reality that it’s happening. If you had any fear, the sheer peer pressure of the group will make a lot braver. As we walked around the the Pod and leaned over the edge of the one and half metre platform, the sheer vertical views, uninhibited by steel and glass, were exceptional.

There are four activities that you’ll be doing while you on the edge

1. 1. Toes over Toronto
2. 2. Lean back on the edge (no hands on the rope)
3. 3. Lean forward on the edge (no hands on the rope)
4. 4. Group lean back and forward

If you have any fear of heights, this will definitely challenge you … no matter how composed we looked here

Looking all over the city completely unobstructed is definitely awesome … no better word to describe it. Looking down face forward though can be quite unsettling for some people … on a stranger note … the only people to chicken out have been male! Like WTF?

Overall I wouldn’t do this again, because of the repeat price and I’ve been up the CN Tower with every visitor I’ve had into town. That being said, this is definitely a one time must do when you’re in Toronto, especially given the seasonal nature of the thing … this is only the second year that they’ve had it!  From a service perspective, all the staff at the tower are fantastic; they are all funny, personable and know their stuff.

So go up, get the view from one of the world’s tallest free standing structures, get your pictures and then head out on the town for some food and entertainment.

If you’re looking for a video of the entire thing … you can check out my youtube channel or the following sample video … although I was a monkey on this one … I couldn’t stop laughing watching myself give the guide some “horrors”