Anchors Above Zipline Adventures
Anchors Above is Nova Scotia’s first zipline experience, offering two ziplines that fly across the valley that range from six storeys to 10 storeys high. Take in Nova Scotia’s beautiful scenery while sliding at death-defying heights for only $30 a ride. And hey, if your kids are pretty badass, children under the age of 12 ride for only $20. Fun for the whole adrenalin-junkie family! French River, $20-$30, anchorsabovezipline.ca,
759-7403
OnTree Fun and Adventure Park
Want to get aerial but don’t want to go anywhere near Moncton to get to Treego? Ski Martock has something to do in the summer besides sneaking up at night and pushing your friends down the hills. Located in Windsor, OnTree Fun and Adventure Park is an aerial course filled with ropes, ziplines, a climbable spider web and even a 50-foot base jump. The park offers a variety of courses for all skill levels and ages, so even if you’re afraid of heights you can always go play on the children’s course.
Windsor, $11.50-$34.50, 798-8855, ontreepark.com
Thursday Night Bouldering with Climb Nova Scotia
Looks like Climb Nova Scotia has a real bad case of the Mondays, because its weekly program Monday Night Bouldering has been moved to Thursdays this summer. Participants meet at 6pm every Thursday in the parking lot of Bethany United Church off the Armdale Rotary to carpool to each week’s location. Thursday Night Bouldering allows new climbers and pros alike to see Halifax’s surrounding beauty, taking in the vistas of areas like Crystal Crescent, Duncan’s Cove and Chebucto Head. Climb Nova Scotia recommends bringing climbing shoes and comfortable athletic wear, as well as a headlamp or flashlight if the climb goes into the night. The event is free, but CNS mentions that it may be a good idea to bring some extra money for gas if you’re carpooling each week. HRM, climbnovascotia.ca
June-August
Dartmouth Adventure Boot
Camp for Women
Sometimes the gym isn’t for everyone. With all the big dudes grunting loudly, walking around with disproportionately large arms and little chicken legs and whatever the hell that smell is emanating from the men’s change room, it’s hard for a lady to focus on her workout. And who wants to be indoors during the only time of year that the city isn’t covered in a sheet of rain and fog? That’s where Dartmouth Adventure Boot Camp comes in. Hosted by fitness professional Anne Campbell and her team of support instructors, groups meet on the Dartmouth Common at 5:30am to run through an array of group exercises specifically targeted toward women, giving you a high-intensity burn to last the rest of the day. Mon-Fri, 5:30am, Dartmouth, $199-$299, 465-1028, nsbootcamp.com
July 14
Dragon Boat Festival
Twenty-four Canadian cities host dragon boat races annually, and Dartmouth’s is a local favourite. Teams of 22—of varying paddling abilities—compete in races all day long. It’s really a beautiful thing to see. A Chinese tradition that stretches back over 2,400 years, dragon boating “began on the banks of the life-sustaining rivers in the valleys of southern China as a fertility rite performed to ensure bountiful crops. The race was held to avert misfortune and encourage the rains needed for prosperity, and the object of their worship was the dragon.”
9am-4pm, Lake Banook, Dartmouth, dragonboat.halifax.ns.ca
June 22-24 and June 29-July 1
Bedford Days Baseball Tournament
There are a lot of great baseball players that have come out of the Maritimes. Think of New Brunswick slugger Matt Stairs, Rheal Cormier and even Rich Terfry, who was scouted at the age of 16 by the Yankees before a shoulder injury forced him to quit his dream and become a little-known rapper named Buck 65. Look for Nova Scotia’s top Major League Baseball prospects to light it up this June and July at the Bedford Days Baseball Tournament, as young hopefuls sporting John Axford style dirt-staches compete to be the best team in the Maritimes. Bedford, bedforddays.ca
July 8-15
Antigonish Highland Games
Fact: Scottish people are tough. Don’t believe it? Then come to the 149th annual Antigonish Highland Games, which boasts itself as the longest continual highland games held outside of the homeland. Watch New Scotland’s finest compete in traditional competitions of tug-o-war, pipe and drum battles and the Farmer’s Walk Championship, in which competitors carry 202 pounds in each hand and try to get from one point to another in the fastest time possible. Not just for burly Scotsmen, the Highland Games offers fun for the whole family with music, scavenger hunts and lots of salmon dinners. Antigonish, $7-$26, 863-4275,
antigonishhighlandgames.ca
August 13-14
The 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge
The Cold War may long be over, but that doesn’t mean Canadians and Russians aren’t still battling for supremacy in the world of hockey. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series (which we won, by the way), the Metro Centre will be hosting two games on August 13 and 14 between Canada and Russia’s top juniors. Make Paul Henderson and Phil Esposito proud, boys. Halifax Metro Centre, 1800 Argyle Street, $86 for the
weekend, 451-1221, ticketatlantic.ca
August 18
Chester Skate Park
Competition
If you missed last year’s Red Bull Manny Mania at the Halifax Common skate park, get ready to lace up your Vans and hitch a ride to Chester for the 2012 Chester Skate Competition. For fans of the local Common and Spryfield parks, the Chester skate park offers a more integrated and street-heavy course, allowing burgeoning amateurs to really test their skills on ledges and rails around the park. The contest is all ages, so even if you’re an 11-year-old park grommet with a mobbed-out kickflip, you still have a chance to win a prize from local sponsors ProSkates and Homegrown Skateboards. Chester, 275-3490, chesterskatepark.com
This article appears in Jun 21-27, 2012.