Close

Member Login

Logging In
Invalid username or password.
Incorrect Login. Please try again.

Not a member? Register Now!

Signing up helps us keep offensive content off of our site. Take a moment to register or click here to learn more about our privacy policy

Comin' Round the Mountain...in Jamaica?

Bobsledding in Jamaica: An Olympian joy ride, no snow required.
by Christopher Cox

An Olympian joyride, no snow required...Usain "Lightning" Bolt, the sprinting star of last summer's Olympics, accelerates out of the first turn, already a speeding blur. With nearly 700 meters to the finish line, the triple-gold medalist grins, holds up his camera phone and calmly snaps a picture. Of course, he would! Despite the quirky renown of the national bobsled team, tracks like this are not exactly commonplace in Jamaica.Diving, winding and undulating for 3,320 feet through a lush and rugged landscape, Rainforest Bobsled Jamaica at Mystic Mountain combines amusement-park thrills with green appeal: Who wouldn't want to take a roller-coaster ride through the woods? Five minutes west of Ocho Rios, the unique diversion - done in one-man cars resembling the sleds first immortalized by Jamaica's team at the 1988 Winter Olympics - is the centerpiece of a multimillion-dollar, 100-acre project constructed using methods that minimize its impact on the surrounding topography. The attraction also includes a web of zip lines and the Sky Explorer chairlift, which ascends 700 feet to the summit of Mystic Mountain.Soaring through and above a dense, mature forest of almond, pimento and poinciana trees festooned with bromeliads and wild orchids, the cable car offers spectacular views of the north coast, the island's mountainous interior and, if you go early morning or late afternoon, up-close-and-personal encounters with abundant bird life, including the endemic black-billed parrot.   Italic textAt the summit, anchored by a pavilion built to look like a rural railway station, visitors can enjoy a swimming pool, lookout tower, gift shop and R2@ 700 Feet, a contemporary Caribbean restaurant with a menu that features plenty of spicy jerk specialties. There are also exhibits that celebrate the island's diverse fauna and flora; national heroes such as Nanny of the Maroons (a runaway slave who led an 18th-century revolt against the British); reggae legend Bob Marley; and athletes including former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis, Bolt and the original Jamaican bobsled team, which inspired the movie Cool Runnings. The summit is also the launch pad for the zip-line canopy tour, a circuit of five tree-to-tree transects, which includes rides of almost 400 feet and an epic, more-than-550-foot crossing that'll have you shrieking like a juvenile macaw.But the real star here is the bobsled. I clamber into a stylish, German-built car decked out in Jamaica's black, gold and green livery, push a lever to release the brakes, and let gravity work its hair-raising magic. For about the next 45 seconds I dart and dip through a tunnel of emerald vegetation, banking through hairpin turns as I plummet more than 300 feet down the mountainside before finally coming to a halt in a cool, shaded glade; then my sled and I are slowly hoisted up a series of inclines to the start. Back at the top, I race to get Bolt's reaction to this exhilarating ride, but I'm too late: The world's speediest human is busy sliding down the mountain. Again and again, faster and faster.Rainforest Bobsled Jamaica at Mystic Mountain Open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering a variety of packages, from the Sky Explorer ($42) to the combo Sky Explorer, bobsled and zip-line package ($125). 876-974-3990; rainforestbobsledjamaica.com


Learn more about Ocho Rios...Check out travel specials in Jamaica...

Your CommentTo comment please Log In or Register
All submitted comments are subject to the license terms set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use