Falling at the Falls

By Gabrielle Tieman-Lee

Live out all of your superhero dreams and learn to fly at Niagara Freefall and Interactive Center.

This indoor skydiving experience removes all of the fear from skydiving and completely immerses visitors in the thrill of the experience – without ever having to pack a parachute, pull a ripcord or launch out of a perfectly good plane.

The first and only indoor skydiving wind tunnel of its kind in Canada, Niagara Freefall is a state of the art custom recirculating airflow simulator which simulates a standard skydive freefall.

“We wanted to give people a great thrill ride,” says co-owner Attila Cserpes, who owns the family-run facility with his brother Andrew. “This is an open concept (wind tunnel) so you are flying in the air and there are no physical walls around you; you can have customers standing on the side as you fly. Other concepts are that you are flying in a glass tube, so there are close walls right next to you. This one is a little bit more open.”

The indoor vertical wind tunnel chamber has a diameter of 12 feet and is 20 feet high providing enough room for up to four experienced people to fly together in air speeds of up to 140mph. The chamber is fully padded from floor to ceiling for the safety of flyers.

Photos courtesy of Niagara Freefall.

Operational seven days a week and yearround, the tunnel employs state of the art technology which accurately controls the environment inside the tunnel no matter the weather outside.

“By having control of the air we can maintain a comfortable atmosphere in the flight chamber regardless of the outside weather conditions,” said Cserpes. “This allows you to fly indoors year-round in air speeds of over 140 mph.”

A variety of prices and packages are available; from Single Flight Pass (three minutes of individual flying) for $70 dollars to Single Mega Flight Pass (five minutes of individual flying) for $100 dollars and repeat flights available for $45 dollars each.

“Three minutes of skydiving is the equivalent of jumping out of a plane five times,” said Cserpes. “Each person gets three rotations. You just fall into the wind and start to fly.”

From start to finish the experience is 45 minutes to one hour in length. This includes a 20-minute pre-flight classroom training with video and safety orientation with the instructor who will accompany flyers into the wind tunnel. The instructor will train your body to maneuver through the air with precision, control and incredible accuracy and supply you with all required flight gear including: suit, goggles, helmet, knee and elbow pads, earplugs and gloves.

It is designed for ages five and up and no previous experience is required.

“The oldest person we have had is a 92-year-old lady,” said Cserpes. “Her family brought her here on her birthday and she loved it.”

Books of five flights are also available for purchase at $200 dollars each and are available to any flyer who purchased a Single Flight Pass in the same day.

A Family Fun Package is also available for $325 dollars and includes 15 minutes of exclusive access to the wind tunnel for your family for up to five flyers.

Corporate and group rates are also available as well as exclusive tunnel rentals at per hour rates. Niagara Freefall is also available for private rental and can cater to corporate events, team building retreats, birthday parties, bachelor and bachelorette parties and private parties up to 70 people.

Along with the wind tunnel, Niagara Freefall features on site, a 32-foot high outdoor rock wall, Lazerball (a paintless indoor paintball game which uses soft and safe reusable foam balls instead of paintballs for zero mess and pain) a professional grade mechanical bull and a collection of interactive arcade games.

New in 2019 is the addition of a Sling Shot game, which combines the exhilarating fun of Lazerball with slingshots.

Cserpes said all walk ins are welcome but reservations are encouraged due to the increasing popularity of their facility. Flyers under the age of 18 require a parent or guardian to be present and sign a waiver. TM

For more information visit niagarafreefall.com