VEGAS AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN IT
From yoga on a ferris wheel to canyon ziplines, this city has much to offer travellers who like to stay active,
Get your om on Yoga enthusiasts can zen out 168 metres above the city with a one-hour session inside the High Roller ferris wheel, equipped with headphones to better hear the instructor and a spectacular bird’s-eye view. Instructor Nancy Tep took our group through Silent Savasana’s Yoga in the Sky (yoga $75 (U.S.)/ferris wheel $25). “I’d recommend yoga on the wheel to anyone, even if they are afraid of heights as it goes slowly,” Tep says. Enjoy downtown sights “Most people get to know Vegas by foot,” says RTC Bike Share’s bicycle and community outreach co-ordinator Ron Floth, “but biking is an easier way to cover a lot of ground.” Las Vegas’ new bike-share program launched in September in the area known as “the Old Strip” and now has 21 stations with 180 bikes. Cruise by sights such as Vegas’ first hotel, the El Cortez, cool public artwork, old neon signage and quirky Downtown Container Park. ($4/30 minutes). Zip through a canyon Bootleg Canyon, a 30-minute drive outside the city, is home to Flightlinez, a zip-line experience (prices start at $159) with four crazy-fast and exhilarating zips. The sheer velocity of the first run made one rider’s eyes tear. Called Bunny Slope, it starts at 1,097 metres in elevation and clocks in at 113 kilometres per hour. While enjoying the fast views, we also shed a few tears of laughter, thanks to the instructor’s well-rehearsed jokes. Get an even higher view “You simply cannot see the canyon better any other way,” says pilot Taylor Clarke of Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters. Cruising 1,220 metres above sea level at 130 kilometres per hour, we ooh’ed and ahh’ed during an hour-long Golden Eagle Air Tour (prices start at $244 for kids) in Boulder City. We learned about mountain geology while coasting above Lake Mead and the Colorado River, lava domes and the iconic sights of Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. Hike your way up A guided hike at scenic Red Rock Canyon was the perfect activity to take in the desert mix of bright red rock, mounds of tan earth and white snow-covered mountain peaks. During our hike at Calico Tanks Trail, a 20-kilometre loop, we traversed up and over boulders, taking plenty of Instagram-worthy pictures. Visitors can book a guided hike ($130/person) through the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa. Kick up desert dust After following a desolate road, we arrived at the Eldorado mine in Nelson, Nev., a recreated town on private land. We were there with Awesome Adventures to rip it up on ATVs (six to seven-hour guided tours start at $169). The progressively hard trail we followed consisted of many dips and turns and left us wide grinned, smelling faintly of gasoline and covered in desert grit. It was pure adrenalin-filled fun. Practise your swing Back in the city, we took a drive of another sort, at indoor golf range Topgolf Las Vegas (prices from $30 to $75). In an environment that feels more bowling alley than golf green, grabbing a pint and an 8 iron is the thing to do. Then aim to drive a ball and hit a target inside a large netted area. Not a golfer? No problem, says Jeff Klein of PR Plus. “The majority of people who visit aren’t.”