Alpengeist


Alpengeist is an inverted roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, Alpengeist has an Alpine mountain region theme and opened in 1997 as the tallest inverted coaster in the world. The name "Alpengeist" is German for "Alpine Ghost" and the ride is themed to a runaway ski lift. It holds the records for the tallest complete-circuit inverted coaster in the world, tallest inverted roller coaster in the United States, and the longest inverted-complete-circuit coaster drop in the world.

History

On August 30, 1996, Busch Gardens Williamsburg announced the addition of Alpengeist for the 1997 season. It would break the height and speed records among inverted roller coasters and feature the tallest vertical loop on an inverted coaster. The ride would be the park's second new roller coaster in two years after Izzy. To reduce noise, the coaster would use polyurethane wheels instead of nylon, and the drop would be angled away from houses in Kingsmill. Part of the coaster would also be constructed in a ravine.
Construction of Alpengeist began two months before the announcement in June 1996. The coaster would be made out of 106 track pieces, with 7 for the lift hill, 10 for the station, and 89 for the rest of the layout.
Alpengeist officially opened on March 22, 1997. It held the record for tallest inverted coaster until the opening of Cedar Point's Wicked Twister in 2002. However, Alpengeist remained the world's tallest among complete-circuit inverted coasters. In 2021, it was surpassed again by Legendary Twin Dragon, an inverted shuttle coaster in China. Wicked Twister closed at the end of the 2021 season making Alpengeist the tallest inverted coaster in North America. Additionally, Alpengeist would hold the record for being the fastest inverted coaster until Volcano: The Blast Coaster at nearby Kings Dominion surpassed it in 1998.
In 2022, Alpengeist was repainted with light blue supports.

Characteristics

The ride features three trains, though only two are in use at any time. Three mechanics maintain the ride and spend four months each year completely reconstructing each of the trains. Each train contains eight cars, each equipped with a single row seating four riders for a total of 32 riders per train.

Ride experience

Upon exiting the station, the floor drops beneath the riders' feet and the train climbs the chain lift after hearing the send-off recording "Thank you and enjoy your avalanche of adventure on Alpengeist!" The top of the lift reaches above the river below. The track turns right while dropping down a spiral drop, going past The Land of The Dragons, with the train hitting. Following the drop, the train passes through a Immelmann loop, followed by a vertical loop. The track then races through a wooden tunnel before passing through a cobra roll over the Rhine River, adjacent to the Loch Ness Monster. Out of the cobra roll, the track crosses over the entrance to the cobra roll, passes by Griffon, then rises into the midcourse brake run. After the midcourse brakes, the track crosses over the exit from the Immelmann loop and then into another tunnel and down a drop before entering a zero-g roll, alongside the Le Scoot log flume. After a short section of straight track close to ground level, the track inverts into a corkscrew followed by a clockwise upward helix, before making a left turn to the final brake run.

Awards