Timber Twister Alpine Coaster

Driving back from a camping trip in northern MN we noticed a couple of billboards for a new alpine coaster opening Thursday July 1 at Spirit Mountain:

http://spiritmt.com/timbertwister.aspx

Looks pretty cool!

Looks like the same kind as Wisp, even has a helix. I liked the one I did, t'was fun till my friend's wife stopped just before the helix to wait for us to catch up. She didn't get that we purposefully let her go ahead so we could roll down the mountain. Had great speed until then.

Wow! 3200ft of track! That's longer than most coasters. I think these Alpine Coasters look pretty darn fun. I've been wanting to ride one ever since I started following the ones over in Europe some years back. Glad to know they are finally (albeit slowly) catching on here in the USA.

I'm going to ride the one at Wisp Mt in a few weeks.

I rode one in Germany a few weeks ago and the first run had traffic about half way down. We waited a while the 2nd time around so everyone could clear out. No brakes all the way down was a lot better.

I'd rank it pretty high with regards to coaster experiences.

Never been on one. In relation to the brakes, can you run top to bottom without touching them? What's the ride experience if you do that?

I went top to bottom with no brakes and it's pretty wild. I felt like I was going to get tossed on a couple of the turns.

Based on the photo, that is definitely a Wiegand (pronounced vy-gand). These are very fun. Unlike the Slides, all of the Alpine Coasters can be run flat out with no brakes. That's assuming there is no one ahead of you moving slower than you. Here is my POV of the 3 I've ridden. Tobotronc is the longest Wiegand in the world. Tobotronc's video is only showing the downhill portion. It took 13 minutes to get to the top.

I think that might take me a few runs before I could keep my mitts off the brakes. Getting tossed on the hillside, no big deal...the retaining fence on the other hand...

Wow, that's long! I've done the ones in Maryland and Colorado. I'd say they are better than most conventional coasters out there.

Really, after about 20 feet, I was ready to let it go. It feels safer than it looks. Oh, and they're really long feet wise because the lifts are soooooooo long. It took FOREVER to go up the mountain on that lift. And it was so cold.

Yeah, they can be very cold considering they can run year round.

I rode Wisp's on New Years Day 2009. There was real and 'fake' snow on the mountain, and it was freezing. We went to go tubing, but they ran out of passes, so we just did the alpine coaster.

What are the rails made of? Steel? Aluminum? PVC?

obxKevin said:

Never been on one. In relation to the brakes, can you run top to bottom without touching them? What's the ride experience if you do that?

It doesn't quite work that way. You have to touch the brake handle or you go nowhere. You have to push it forward in order to move. If you let go, or let up, the vehicle slows or stops automatically. Personally I found it a little uncomfortable to keep the brake handle pushed fully forward, maybe my arms aren't long enough. I also found the alpine slides to be more exciting. Alpine Coasters are fun, but there was never a sense of thrill or danger. With an Alpine Slide it's a real possibility you could be thrown from the trough, and I found myself constantly making speed adjustments. To me the slides are more thrilling.

According to Weigand the rails are stainless steel. That's sounds kind of expensive, but considering the length of some of these coasters, it must not be too costly.

Jeffrey Seifert said:
With an Alpine Slide it's a real possibility you could be thrown from the trough

Like this, I would imagine.

I think I'll stick to the coasters. You can go as fast as they will let you. There is still a small chance of falling off. Especially if you aren't using the brake. I have also found it difficult holding the handle forward. So rather than using my hands, I push the handle as far forward as it will go and then bend my leg back as far as it will go and wedge my foot onto the handle. They my hands are free to hold the camera. :)

Though, for anyone planning on doing their own POV, I always recommend taking a few circuits and get familiar with the course first. Most of these places don't care if you take a camera with you because they know if you drop it, it will just end up on the ground below. Plus you have to sign waivers. So, even if something did happen, you've probably already taken the liability off of their hands.

They're building one of these at Blue Mountain, just north of Toronto right now and it's expected to open late summer this year. Since it will be operating year round my love of coasters and skiing have finally collided! The skiing at Blue gets old fast so this will be a great addition to the resort. There's only about a 700 ft. vertical to the mountain so can't imagine it will be too long but still looking forward to it.

http://www.bluemountain.ca/upcoming_attractions.htm

The slides are definitely more thrilling. I have come close to several wipeouts myself when my sled started fish-tailing. Very scary! The coasters are fun because you're pretty sure you''re not gonna get hurt as long as you hang on, and hey it's a coaster!

Alpine coasters feel inifinitely safer than the concrete-trough Alpine slides (videos of hard crashes notwithstanding, LOL). Oakwood has a steel-troughed slide that was a LOT of fun even if it was relatively short.

^Matt, they're only coasters if Duane says they are...(he doesn't) ;~P