Rope Runner in Squamish

Rope Runner is an outdoor adventure course in Squamish. At the attraction visitors get to explore a tower of interconnected ropes course-type elements.

NOTE: As of late 2023, Rope Runner is permanently CLOSED! It has been sold and has a new home – in Invermere, BC! If looking for fun places to do ropes course adventures, however, you still have options!

Other exceptional ropes course attractions in the region include WildPlay Element Park in Maple Ridge and the Aerial Obstacle Course in Whistler. Both of these other venues are set in the forest in beautiful settings where you get to walk up high in among the trees. Both are awesome and highly recommended! Even better than Rope Runner was, at least in our opinion.

This article contains the following information about Rope Runner:

Admission and Hours of Operation | How Rope Runner Works | What to Expect | Other Information

Rope Runner Ropes Course in Squamish

The Rope Runner Park used to consist of a main adventure course structure that was over 15 metres tall and 20 metres in diameter. The facility was located at 38400 Loggers Lane in Squamish, just off the Sea to Sky Highway.

A massive freestanding structure with dozens of obstacles, Rope Runner offered both family-friendly entertainment and physical exercise. It was both fun and challenging. Depending on which elements you tackled, it was also fairly physically demanding.

The attraction was appropriate and fun for people of most ages (although not little kids, the elderly or folks with zero physical strength). There were 50 different obstacles you could tackle while safely strapped into your harness. You could choose what you wanted to do and where you wanted to go.

Rope Runner was one of two ropes course facilities in the Sea to Sky region. The other is the Aerial Obstacle Course which is exceptional and located just outside Whistler. Whereas Rope Runner was out in the open, the Aerial Obstacle Course is in the forest with ropes course elements going from tree to tree. If you like ropes courses, you’ll definitely want to visit the Whistler venue too. It’s one of our favourites!

When we went in the summer a couple of years ago the youngest person in our group was 15. The oldest was about 50. We all had a great time!

The Rope Runner Structure

Admission and Hours of Operation

When it was open, Rope Runner operated during the summer and early fall. The park was open on Saturdays and Sundays in May and June. In July and August it was open every day except Tuesdays, and in September it was open from Fridays to Sundays. The last day of the season in 2023 was October 9th, so around the Thanksgiving Long Weekend. During its final month the place only ran on Saturdays and Sundays.

No matter the day or month, when the park was open the first set of people took on the course at 10:00 am. The final run started at 4:30 pm.

Admission for Rope Runner gave you two hours on the course. You had to book a time in advance online to guarantee a spot. Below were the online ticket prices as of March 2023.

Adults (ages 16+): $49.95
Junior (ages 7 to 15): $44.95

You needed to be over four feet tall and weigh less than 265 pounds in order to participate. Closed-toed shoes were also required.

Learning the Ropes at Rope Runner

How Rope Runner Worked

Participants wore full-body harnesses which were one-size-fits-all. Each harness had a couple of clips.

Rope Runner operated on a continuous belay system. As you moved from station to station, you clipped, unclipped and re-clipped yourself along the way. One of your clips was always attached. You couldn’t unclip one of your clips if the other one wasn’t already securely in place. It was a very secure and safe system.

Each session lasted for 120 minutes. After the initial 10-minute or so set of instructions, you could climb as much as you liked for the remainder of your two hours.

Rope Runner Venue in Squamish

What to Expect

When it was still operational, Rope Runner was a tower of interconnected pillars and cables in an open area behind the Squamish Information Centre. There is a fairly large gravel parking lot and the Rope Runner structure was in the middle. From the structure you could see the forest, mountains, Tourist Information Centre and the parking lot below.

At the start of your Rope Runner experience, after submitting your signed waivers, you were asked to empty your pockets of any loose items. Once you were sure you didn’t have anything that might drop on people below, you were ready for the first step.

After checking in, an instructor showed you how to get into your harness and clip yourself onto the cables. It was reassuring to learn you were always clipped onto something. After your first clip, the system was designed so you couldn’t totally unclip yourself by accident. It was a clever system!

After your initial instructions, you were off! You slipped yourself onto the cable at the start and made your way up the first flight of stairs.

There were four levels of elements at Rope Runner and you could go wherever you wanted. It was recommend starting at the first level. There were easy, intermediate and challenging elements at each level. At the top, however, you would find more challenging elements than easy ones.

At the Top at Rope Runner

The Rope Runner Elements

There used to be dozens of things to climb and make yourself across on at Rope Runner. There were cables, a ladder and wobbly steps to walk across. You could also find a hanging kayak, a picnic table, a ski lift chair and a snowmobile to sit on up high in the air.

At Rope Runner there were elements that required upper body strength and ones that required balance. Some were easy enough that pretty much anyone could do. Others were quite challenging. When we went, with six people in our party including a couple of teenagers, there was only one element that nobody tried. Even the 50+ crowd did at least 90% of the structures.

WILDPLAY IN MAPLE RIDGE

If you like ropes courses and adventure parks, then also be sure to check out WildPlay Element Park in Maple Ridge and the Aerial Obstacle Course in Whistler. Both are amazing! They have ropes courses that go from tree to tree in the forest. They also have ziplines. We’ve been to both and loved them! (TIP: With Rope Runner, if you use the promo code VBP15 you’ll save 15% off the cost of admission!)