Alpine Bobsleds: Anyone Ridden?

I rode one of these at Ober Gatlinburg over spring Break, and I thought it was amazing. It reminded me of what it must have felt like to be on the early coasters, with manual speed control, and rolling along without upstops. Has anyone ridden these, and if so, what did you think?

I rode one in Denver last summer and it was great. I only got to do it once and would def. do it again.

We used to have a pair of Alpine Slides at Camelbeach, the local waterpark. It was built on a ski slope, and it was VERY long and looked like it was capable of going very fast.

Sadly, the only time I tried to ride it I was turned down because you needed a parent signature, and in 2003 they were removed... :(

I rode the one at Camelbeach.I remember it had two seperate but identical tracks. One was beginner and the other expert. It didn't matter what side you rode because you could go however fast you wanted to go.

The best was the time I went there with my exgirlfriend. I went before her and flew down the track. I figured she would be right behind me. After a few minutes I took my sled back to the return area and was still waiting for her. Eventually she came putting down the slide with about 5 people behind her. Her excuse was she didn't know you could push the lever forward further. It was funny seeing a bunch of people behind her.

You're talking about the small troughs in the ground which you roll down in small carts through banked turns etc.?

I've never tried one of the concrete ones, but just about everywhere but America uses stainless steel ones (from a German company that specialises in these sorts of rides), which I believe are capable of much more because of the nature of steel as opposed to concrete.

There are some really sweet ones in Australia - I find a good one to be far more thrilling than the best roller coasters out there, because of that added element of self-control, being alone and the fact that you're so close to the ground and not held in by anything.

I love how you can reride dozens of times, each getting slightly faster until you can master a completely brake-less run. The faster you go around the turns, the more you've got to lean, which is quite scary. If you don't lean enough and you're going too fast you're flying off that thing, and they're not exactly usually surrounded by soft things.

There is a pair of concrete alpine slides in the Black Hills near where I used to live. I never did try them though. They wanted WAY too much money.

$60.00 Package of 10 rides ($6 per ride)

http://www.presidentsslide.com/

Thats is alot. You think they would offer a RAD pass or somthing for like $25 or so. For those prices I'd probably just ride it once or twice. I think the one at CamelBeach used to be around $5 or $6 a ride but you could buy a ride and slide pass too. I think that was $20 or so way back when they only had 2 water slides and the alpine slides.

I think though that if they made the trough larger, that it could get alot more intense. maybe that is why they don't have it larger then. ;)

I have done some alpine slides and found them very enjoyable. I plan to hit some of the ones located in Colorado since I've just recently moved out here.

But something that is unique but IMO much more fun than alpine slides was the Luge in Rotorua, NZ. They are individual cars that you stear down a nice long paved route (basically a really nice sidewalk) that has some banked turns. You can really get your speed up on these things and even though you're not supposed to, racing them is a blast.

http://www.skylineskyrides.co.nz/luge/index.html

This place had a regular alpine slide, but it looked boring compaired to the luge. If you're ever in NZ, check it out.

seems kind of like a tricycle without the pedals. looks pretty cool though.

I've ridden a small version at Oakwood Park in Wales. What I would much rather ride are the Alpine Coasters. These just look like pure adrenaline rushes! I don't think there are currently any operating here in the US but I'm not 100% sure. Here are a few links:

http://www.wiegandslide.com/de/alpine_coaster.htm
(click the video link near the bottom)

http://www.feeblitz.ch/bildergalerie/

http://www.geise-engineering.com/coaster_photos.htm *** Edited 3/17/2004 1:19:39 AM UTC by HarryTraver***

Traver those do look tight. This was a very fun ride though and want them to build one in fla.

I still have scars on my triceps and forearms from the awesome alpine slides at Mt. Hood Meadows. I can't wait till summer when I can show those slides whose boss!;)

There are a few of these in this area:

www.mammothcave.com/kyap-sld.htm

www.obergatlinburg.com/alpine.htm

www.nashville-collection.com/tourist/alpineslide.html

Similar thread:
http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=37139

The Alpine slide is the closest thing we Oregonians we have for a decent coaster. I have ridden the one up at Mt. Hood many times.

A little trick I learned for getting more speed and control is check the tread on the wheels. If the wheel is bald,get another sled. The sleds with no tread on the wheel tend to shuffle coming out of the curves. I crashed and burned once because of this.

I have ridden one, the one in Gatlinburg, and it's insanely fun. More fun than most coasters I've ridden.

I've ridden it so many times over the years that I can run the whole thing full throttle without crashing. It's just a matter of distributing your weight properly, such as holding out your arm and leaning as you go around curves.

I always have to wait for 2-3 minutes at the top to make sure the person in front of me is done and off the track, because I *will* catch up to them!

Saw a person crash once, though, from the ski lift. She slid about 10 feet on her *face*. Ouch.

they tell you not to lean because it could tip the cars. the bastards lie i guess.

They also tell you to use the brakes once in a while, but what fun is that??

I've never ridden any of these since I thought they'd be slow and boring. Will have to try it now.

A trip to Dollywood and Gatlinburg sounds good about now.

A local "fun park" called Raccoon mountain used to have three of these, and boy, do I have fond memories of it. I was , like, five, and I made the thing go without any brakes(except for this one NASTY curve on # 2). And it had tires at the bottom to stop you. It was awesome.

One time my sister rode it and didn't lean or use brakes on the first curve of one of them, flew off the track, and skinned all the skin off her elbow and forearm. It was gruesome, and she never rode one again.

They also had an extremely cool waterslide that actually went underground at one point, but they removed that as well(or maybe that's just my kiddie memory).

And they got rid of the Go-kart tracks too.

Come to think of it, Raccoon Mountain screwed me over. :)