In the summer of 2021, Cypress Mountain welcomed a brand new attraction to their hill – the longest mountain coaster in Canada! I was eager to try it, and my husband’s birthday seemed like a good enough reason to buy tickets for our family to brave the thrilling ride.
The Cypress Mountain Eagle Coaster is a 1.7 km long ride with a 279 vertical metre drop. Tickets include a chair lift ride to the top of the hill where you wait to board your own individual cart that will send you shooting down the mountain.
You can control your own speed with the brake, and there are signs along the ride that instruct you on when it is a good time to use the brake…which is probably a good thing as you can reach speeds of up to 40 km an hour.
To ride alone you must be 8 years old and at least 4 ft 1 inches tall (my 8 year old son rode alone, my six year old daughter Rowan rode with me…although she’s the largest 6 year old ever and it was a little tight in our cart). To ride with an adult you must be at least three years old, so we did not bring our two year old daughter Ellie along on the ride. I think she might have launched herself from the chair lift had we brought her….
Tickets must be pre-booked online to secure your time slot. You can book for one ride or two. I booked us for two rides and I’m really glad I did. It was so much fun and as soon as we went down once the kids were begging to go again. However, this is not a cheap outing. One ride for ages 8 and up is $29.00, for two rides it is $49.00. For one passenger ride (ages 3-8) it will cost you $12.00, and two passenger rides is 19.00. So, again, not cheap but an amazingly fun and unique treat.
Both the kids and us adults had such a blast on the ride. Between the two chair lift rides up and two rides down, it took us just under one hour. You may find it’s worth combining the Eagle Coaster with enjoying some other parts of Cypress Mountain to make the most of your trip. There are a ton of wonderful hikes you can do in the summertime there as well. Check out the Cypress Mountain website for some different hiking options. If you are into geocache, there are also a number of great locations for that on the mountain as well. Or you could pack a picnic or eat out on the patio of the Crazy Raven restaurant which is just at the base of the Eagle Mountain coaster.
The Eagle Coaster will be running through to the end of September. I definitely recommend it especially if you and your kids love rides, and are looking for something extra special to do. If you don’t make it there this time, then keep it in mind as a must-do for next summer!
