With a running jump I was off, gliding 285 feet over a gorge. The unobstructed view of Steady Brook Falls was revealed as the water raged below me from the day-old rain. The harsh November wind slowed down my ride on the zip line and I stopped three quarters of the way across the gorge and hung suspended from two cables, taking in the refreshingly fine waterfall mist.

Corner Brook

A visit to my friend living in Newfoundland brought me to Corner Brook, the second largest city in Canada’s most easterly province of Newfoundland and Labrador. What the small pulp mill city lacks in quaint charm it more than makes up for in rugged natural beauty.

Surrounding the fume-spewing mill are the Long Range Mountains, the Bay of Islands and boreal forest that has been injected with a picturesque dose of autumn colors. The best way to see the landscape, of course, is to get off ground level and find an overhead view.

Zip Lining

Marble Zip Tours opened their doors in August 2008 and has seen immediate success. The six zip lines are hands free, unique to most other zip lines in the world.

“We chose the hands free set up because it is believed to be the safest- the customer has to do absolutely nothing besides walk off the ramps and enjoy the ride!” says Martin Flynn, President of Marble Zip.

“We look after [guests] from beginning to end. This makes our zip line one of the safest zip lines in the world. When customers are in control, that's when there's room for error. After guiding through thousands of guests, we have never had one incident.”

Although travelling during the peak season ups your chances for warm weather, the zip line is open year round and some of the most interesting scenery is seen in the fall and winter. This is when you must bundle up in your warmest clothes, don a winter hat, scarf and gloves, and be rewarded with the gushing waterfall of Marble Mountain gorge and the fall colors that spread across the mountains.

Those who wait until winter can expect trekking through multiple feet of snow to get to the zip line platforms and then finishing off the rest of the day with faithful Maritimers who ski at Marble Mountain, just a stone’s throw away in Steady Brook.

Western Newfoundland and Labrador

The tourism here in western Newfoundland is primitive at best, building slowly and going through many growing pains. The upside is that traveling through this area is about as un-touristy as it gets. The “resorts” are simple lodges and the locals you'll meet in the pubs have a rough friendliness.

Marble Zip Tours is forging through this by creating its own tourism. The local guides will take you out for nearby caving, day hikes, rafting and rock climbing, although the zip line is by far their most popular.

“We can zip right home,” Jamie Harnum, one of the guides, tells me.

Off the mountain, the city of Corner Brook has some fantastic walking trails (from half an hour to half a day). From downtown, the Corner Brook Stream Trail and Margaret Bowater Park trail meander with the stream along a well-maintained path. A harder workout is the International Appalachian Trail’s Man in the Mountain, a half day hike up steep switchbacks, around two lakes and with glorious views of the city. A picnic at the top is a great way to prolong the hike.

Other day trip ideas include the renowned Gros Morne National Park, just northwest of Corner Brook, as well as the remarkable Tablelands, mountains that were once the ocean floor and look more suited to the desert than the Maritimes.

More Information:

Tourism Newfoundland and Labrador, 1-800-563-6353 or (709) 729-2830