Toronto’s CN Tower is not just an iconic landmark, it also offers an extreme urban adventure. Yana Banerjee-Bey describes the experience of EdgeWalk, the world’s highest, full circle, hands-free walk on an outer ledge
The CN Tower is to Toronto what the twin Petronas Towers are to Kuala Lumpur, the One World Trade Centre to New York, the Shard to London or the Burj Khalifa to Dubai. It is an instantly recognisable landmark associated with the city and a must-visit tourist destination. A striking piece of modern architecture, it rises like a needle above the jagged skyline of skyscrapers in downtown Toronto—a smooth, tapered cylinder which is at once futuristic and elegant. It dominates the skyline and is magnificently visible from afar, towering over the concrete and glass jungle, or glimpsed wondrously in a vacant sliver of horizon between two oblong buildings as you move about the city. At night it is lit up with slashes and planes of coloured light—not kitschily but dramatically.
As an adventure enthusiast, my fancy was sparked by the thought of doing EdgeWalk, an extreme urban adventure on the CN Tower—conducted on a ledge high above the heart of the city. And, it turned out to be every bit as thrilling as promised.
The 553-metre communications and observation structure was the world’s tallest tower from 1976, the year it was built, to 2010, when its height was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa and Canton Tower.
It remains the world’s third highest tower and you get to walk on the ledge, 116 storeys above the city—completely in the open. EdgeWalk, which has been in operation since 2011, has a 100 percent safety record and is the world’s highest, full circle, hands-free walk on an outer ledge.
The ledge is five feet across, which does not seem very wide when you are 356 metres (1,168 feet) above the ground but it’s not fear-invokingly narrow either. It’s the feeling of being in sheer open space high above the city that intimidates some people.
On the day that I went for EdgeWalk, a woman who was part of an earlier session came down while I was awaiting my group’s turn and said she had turned back immediately after going out onto the ledge. “I said, this is it for me, it’s enough for me, I’m going back in, I’m not doing the entire walk,” she announced.
If that makes you wonder whether you would be able to do it, consider this encouraging statistic: of the 74,000 people who had completed EdgeWalk until that day (I don’t have ad precise figure for how many have done it till date but it has reached more than double that and some more), only 40 had turned back from the ledge. That count includes the lady in the group before us.
Those with heart conditions, high blood pressure or any balance impairment are advised to employ caution during the activity. However, they are not barred from it. Participants have to be at least 13 years old and there is no upper age limit. The oldest person to have done it was a 97-year-old woman.
Everyone must pass a breathalyser test. I have done plenty of adventure activities—both soft adventure for tourists and hardcore stuff for adventure fanatics—and never been asked to undergo a breathalyser test. So I asked about it, amused. “Oh, we just want to make sure you’re not above the legal limit,” was the reply, with a reciprocal smile.
Each group consists of six participants plus the Walk Master. After leaving your bag and shoes in a locker (you are given the key to hang around your neck), you are kitted out in natty red overalls and sneakers.
Long hair should be secured with rubber bands (which will be supplied) and all hair clips and jewellery are removed as you will be exposed to wind and these items could fall off.
Apart from the fact that you would lose them, even such tiny objects hurtling down from such a great height would gain momentum and could injure passers-by on the street below the CN Tower.
Next you put on a harness with screw carabiners and go through two safety checks by staff. With tugs and pulls, they ensure the harness fits snugly and the locking mechanisms of both harness and carabiners are locked.
Then you head up from the EdgeWalk premises on the CN Tower’s ground floor to the control room on the ledge in a high-speed, glass-bottomed lift on the outside of the building—watching the ground beneath and the side of the tower swoosh away under your feet.
At the exit onto the ledge, you pass through another safety check by a senior staffer and then your Walk Master clips you into the cables that secure you through pulleys to an overhead rail system running around the ledge.
One cable is simply a safety link from the overhead rail to the front of your harness. The other one, which runs through to the back of the harness, is equipped with a spring that works like a shock absorber in case you slip off the ledge. No one does slip off, though some youngsters step off for fun!
And then you walk out onto the ledge, looking out at the glorious view of Lake Ontario, the island airport in the lake, and the urban sprawl of Toronto surrounding the CN Tower. The Walk Master leads you not only along the ledge but also to its very rim.
You conquer any fear you might feel in small steps—one at a time, literally. You spread your arms wide and face outward and look down, then you lean back and look up at the SkyPod. The SkyPod is the Tower’s observation deck and hugely popular. The visitors there will look down on the EdgeWalkers on the ledge and wave at you. Wave back!
For ever afterwards, whether you are a visitor to Toronto or a resident of the city, whenever your eye catches the CN Tower, you will recall the experience of EdgeWalk and say, whether to others or to yourself, “Oh, there’s that ledge. I’ve walked on it.”
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