Loop 030 printable

Volume 2, No. 7. April 12, 2002

New Arrivals

It’s a roller coaster!
Thorpe Park in Chertsey, England, announces the arrival of Colossus, March 21, 2002. Measurements: 100 feet high (30 meters), 2,805 feet long (850 meters), 10 loops. Delivered by Intamin.

Thorpe could have scored a “most in Europe” trump card simply by putting 10 inversions of any type on its new steel roller coaster. However, the park was aiming for a slightly higher label—something along the lines of “best in Europe”—by melding its double-digit loops into a series of only-in-Thorpe gotchas.

For example, early in the ride, after the initial 360-degree vertical loop, riders descend into a succession of two camel humps, the second taking the train perilously close to, and under, a retail shop window. After a cobra roll and a couple more vertical loops, Colossus enters a series of four in-line inversions. “It looks visually like you are going down the barrel of a gun,” said the park’s PR manager, Emma Hart. This is not the “surprise ending” that is already gaining legendary stature among British enthusiasts. That would be an anti-clockwise inversion occurring just as the train is approaching the station.

Even for such a landmark ride, Thorpe did not tempt fate with a grand opening ceremony. The ride made its debut for an invitation-only gathering of annual pass holders, media and VIP from 3 to 8 p.m. (15,00 to 20,00) in pleasant weather. The park bathed Colossus in various lighting effects, including follow spots and colored beams. The next morning when the park opened to the public for the season, 200 members of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain were first in line. “They were just over the moon, they really were,” said Hart. “They didn’t stop praising the ride and the fact it was on their doorstep.”

Thorpe Park is also offering an early rider session. For 9 Sterling Pounds (US$13) over the 21 Pound (US$30) park admission price, guests get a half hour of exclusive ride time on Colossus, a special deal for an on-ride photo and a full English breakfast with a big cappucino. Note to operators thinking of copying this idea: the breakfast comes after the ride.