The CN Tower. Landmark of Toronto and a symbol of Canada. Inescapable from almost any angle in the city, it is the focal point for countless photos. The 3rd tallest tower in the world, the tallest structure in the western hemisphere, and formerly the tallest freestanding structure in the world (1975-2007) – thanks Wikipedia!

To put it in perspective, The Shard in London is 306 m (1,004 ft) high. The CN Tower is 553 m (1,815 ft) high. At 356 m (1,168 ft), even the observation pod (that UFO look-alike on the tower) is higher up than The Shard.

So I did what any normal person would do, and spent my Thursday lunchtime walking around the observation pod. Except I did it on top of the pod, outside, hands free and only prevented from plunging to my death by a couple of ropes and caribiners.

This was the CN Tower EdgeWalk, and I loved it! You can watch a video of my experience on YouTube.

Up there in the heavens I was joined by my new friends from Mississauga, Ontario and Austin, Texas. We were led by the excellent guide, Josh, who got us to walk to the edge of the platform, and lean out backwards and forwards over the streets of Toronto far down below. Leaning back was easy and almost felt quite natural and relaxed. Leaning forwards felt anything but natural, and was the scariest bit! The rest, hand on heart, wasn’t actually scary. Maybe it helped that I had been up other tall buildings (not outside admittedly) and am a veteran of several Go Apes (OK, not quite as high up!).

One of the best parts about the experience was the ability to see all the places that we’d been in the city in the previous couple of days, but this time, from a brand new perspective!

I should also thank my former work colleagues, who as part of my leaving present gave me a CAD $50 note which I used on this experience.

But what about Emma I hear you ask? Well, unfortunately for her, she just didn’t feel up to the EdgeWalk. However, later that day we went up the tower, but stuck to the inside this time, and took in the views from the observation pod and the even higher SkyPod. We were treated to views of the Toronto Blue Jays vs. Seattle Mariners baseball match below, sunset and the experience of walking on a glass floor.

Stewart