Calgary Slide the City 'a lot smoother this year,' as hundreds join in
"It took us a little over two-and-a-half hours to drive here."
Kelly Beckstrand drove from Raymond, Alta., to enjoy an afternoon slide in Calgary.
It's not just any slide though.
Slide the City is a massive water slide that took up several blocks of 10th Street N.W. Saturday afternoon.
"It is a little less busy than I thought it was going to be, actually, I thought it was going to be more crazy than this," Beckstrand said.
"I am very excited about going down."
There were different packages this year, ranging from $25 to $45 per person for three runs up to the all day package of $99. All are in U.S. dollars as the company is based in Utah.
Trisha Girard said Saturday's event went off much better than last year.
"I had a good time last year but there was a lot of waiting," Girard explained.
"They switched the time so everybody thought they could come whenever they wanted and then a week before we are told you only had a two-hour window to come. This year you got to pick that right when you bought the ticket," she said.
"It seems like everything is a lot smoother this year and people are happier."
Event organizer Rachel Thomas says the company listened when people were unhappy with last year's event.
"Last year we had an issue with our trailer actually not making it to the event site. We had to contact a local tow company to find our trailer," Thomas told CBC News.
"We had a late start last year which affected the lines but this year we were set up and on time ready to roll at 9 a.m."
She says about 2,000 tickets had been pre-sold and they are expected about 2,500 people in total.
The water comes from a city hydrant and the slide uses about 300,000 litres of water (80,000 US gallons).
"Today is going amazing," Thomas said. "We have different packages and a few of them were sold out."
Kurtis Shumka said he and friends have a strategy on the slide.
"We chase. We put someone at the front and then we chase them down, see if you can catch them," Shumka said.
He said the lineups moved quickly.
"It's moving relatively good, 15 or 20 minutes per cycle."
Ilho Cho agreed this event is an improvement on last year's.
"It is actually really good. Definitely a lot less crowded than last year when the lineup was all the way up the street and then turned back around this way," Cho said.
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