The Alpine Boblsed at the Great Escape is one of the most difficult roller coasters in the
world to experience. This relocated Intamin bobsled is a cool coaster, but it’s rare to
see it operational. This coaster can close for a myriad of issues- ranging from mechanical to
weather. And it really is a shame since it’s easily the park’s best steel roller coaster.
So is it worth all the hassle to ride it? In this video, I will be reviewing the Alpine Bobsled.
Bobsled coasters are most notable for their track design. Unlike most roller coasters
that hug the track on all sides, bobsled coasters feature vehicles that freewheels
through semicircular shaped troughs. This mimics the experience Olympic athletes get bobsledding.
The earliest bobsled coasters were constructed in the late 1920s and 1930s. Built by John
Norman Barlett, these early bobsleds were constructed of wood. But by the mid-1970s,
all of these models had ceased operation. The only wooden bobsled remaining to this day
is Flying Turns at Knoebels, which opened late in 2013 after a lengthy 8 year building process.
Intamin reintroduced bobsled coasters in 1984 with their Swiss Bob model. Built with steel,
the Intamin models would feature single cars that could either seat riders inline
or side-by-side. Intamin would only build 5 of these coasters- 3 in 1984 and another 2 in 1985.
Sarajevo Bobsled was one of the ones that opened in 1984. Starting at Six Flags Great Adventure,
this coaster would stand 64 feet or 20 meters tall and feature 1490 feet
or 450 meters of track. Sarejevo Bobsled was a popular coaster and often saw long lines,
but the coaster was part of the Six Flags Ride Rotation program and removed after 1988. Six Flags
Great Adventure would receive the record-breaking Great American Scream Machine Arrow looper in its
place, which is now where Green Lantern sits. Meanwhile, Sarajevo Bobsled was relocated to Six
Flags Great America for the 1989 season, where it would run as Rolling Thunder.
During this relocation, the ride received an important upgrade. While at Great Adventure,
Sarajevo Bobsled sat guests inline similar to a log flume.
Each car could hold a maximum of 6 riders. There were 3 lap bars, so guests were seated in pairs.
Because of this awkward riding position, odd numbered parties often weren’t paired up
which ate into the already-low capacity. When Rolling Thunder opened, the vehicles
received two upgrades. One, riders would now be seated side-by-side with individual lap bars.
Two, the vehicles could now seat 8 riders as opposed to 6. Rolling Thunder still had a low
capacity, but it was still a 33% increase as the ride would now cycle full trains more frequently.
The ride was also popular at Six Flags Great America, but it would be dismantled after the
1995 season, as the Gurnee, Illinois park finally planned to open the long-delayed
Southwest Territory expansion and a bobsled coaster did not fit in with this theme.
Rolling Thunder sat in the Great America’s parking lot for the 1996 and 1997 seasons until being sent
to a new Six Flags park for the 1998 season. The Great Escape in Queensbury, New York was
sold to Premier Parks in 1996. And then in 1998, Premier Parks purchased Six Flags.
While the Great Escape was never rebranded as a Six Flags park, it did immediately receive
a hand-me-down coaster. Rolling Thunder was relocated to Great Escape for the 1998 season,
where it would operate as Alpine Bobsled. The coaster would receive pink paint on
the trough, although that has really started to fade and peel in recent years.
The park is starting to repaint sections of the trough in sections, prioritizing the ones that
run alongside the midway. And the ride also received a really cool looking entry archway
and a Swiss lodge themed station. Then the ride features 6 cars, each themed to
a different country- the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Jamaica, Canada, and Switzerland.
However, you will never see all 6 on the track at once.
Two are rehabbed on a yearly basis. Then the ride usually only operates with 3 cars on the track.
While the ride can run with 4 cars, it’s a rare sight. And it doesn’t really help the
ride’s capacity since the park will only have one Bobsled on the main course at a time.
Over the past few years, the back row has been blocked off.
No official reason from the park has been given, but I’ve heard two rumors.
One, it was whiplash related as the back row often fishtails and slams into the brake runs. Two,
it was maintenance related to reduce the momentum of the cars into the brakes. Whatever the cause
may be, the impact for guests is that this bobsled can only seat 6 riders per car once again.
Since Great Escape was a smaller Six Flags park than Great Adventure and Great America,
the lower capacity was thought to be less of an issue. However, Alpine Bobsled will
almost always have the worst line at Great Escape. Since this coaster dispatches one
car roughly every two minutes, you’re looking at an hourly capacity of roughly 180 riders.
That’s downright awful for any attraction, let alone a ride that is considered a major coaster
at the park it is located at. Expect this ride to have an hour wait most days.
Because of this putrid capacity, Great Escape does not include Alpine Bobsled
on their paid Go Fast Pass system. Interestingly, Alpine Bobsled is included on the membership
skip-the-line passes though. Guests using this pass enter through the exit every third bobsled.
And this is a strict policy, almost to a fault. I used these passes in 2021, but I ran into a
weird issue one day. The staff members were only loading membership skip-the-line pass users in
the American bobsled. After a guest riding in that car reported that their lap bar raised mid-ride,
the crew working the Bobsled continued cycling the ride. They just couldn’t fill the American
bobsled until maintenance arrived. The crew apologized that they couldn’t seat us in
any other bobsled, citing park policy, but the delay only took 5-10 minutes since maintenance
came quickly. It’s almost as if maintenance was hanging around this problematic ride.
There are many reasons why the Alpine Bobsled cannot operate.
First, noise. The echo of the cars running down the trough can be heard throughout the park,
so Great Escape closes the ride’s queue line at 6 pm. As long as you’re in the queue by that point,
you can ride, assuming it doesn’t break down. The coaster also tends to open an hour late.
I’m not sure if that’s noise related or if it’s something else related to the morning block-checks
or maintenance. If you see this ride testing early in the day, I strongly recommend camping by
the main entrance to maximize your chances of A) riding it and B) doing so without a massive wait.
Second, weather. Because of the freewheeling nature of the vehicles, Alpine Bobsled cannot
operate in the rain or if the trough is wet. After a rainstorm rolls through, it can sometimes take a
few days for the trough to drain fully. If the Alpine Bobsled is a priority for you,
it’s best to plan a visit after several consecutive days without precipitation.
Third, loose articles. Items in the trough are a hazard. Glasses are only allowed with
an athletic strap and the park will e-stop the ride if they catch anyone with any articles in
their hands during the ride. The ride is also surrounded by trees and if too many leaves or
branches fall after a windstorm, this can also take the ride down for a day or two.
Four, even without these prior three issues, the ride is temperamental. I commonly see this
ride stuck on the lift hill and it’s 50-50 if it’s due to a guest with a loose article or a
mechanical issue. I expected Six Flags Over Texas’s La Vibora to have similar issues,
but that ride has operated open-to-close in all my visits to that park.
At this point, I’ve become accustomed to seeing the closed sign
in front of Alpine Bobsled’s entrance. My first time visiting Great Escape in 2000
saw this coaster break down on the lift for the rest of the day, but it thankfully reopened the
following day. So while I got the credit early, I’ve struggled to reride it. Great Escape is a
park I have visited every summer (minus 2020) since 2013. And it’s usually a weekend trip.
So I visit this park on days when staffing should not be a concern. Yet I have only been able to
ride Alpine Bobsled in two separate visits. Attempts to ride it have been thwarted
by all four issues combined with the ride’s glacial throughput.
And don’t rely on the park app to determine if Alpine Bobsled is running.
A staff member admitted to me in 2019 that they usually list the ride as closed by default
even if it’s operational. That speaks to how unreliable this ride is.
I got burned by this in 2019. I didn’t enter the park until after 6 pm.
I heard the Bobsled running much to my surprise, but they had already cut off the line. The ride
board outside the main entrance tends to be more accurate, but you can’t check that remotely.
Now I have heard the ride ran more frequently than usual in 2021, so kudos to the park’s
maintenance staff for having this ride running more reliably than in past years.
Assuming you can actually get on the Boblsed, let’s talk about the ride experience.
In terms of seat selection, I have a slight preference for the front. It’s cool having
the unobstructed view of the trough. However, the second and third rows are a little smoother
since they aren’t on the ends of the bobsled that bang into the brake run.
I much prefer the side-by-side seating on Alpine Bobsled than the inline seating found on a ride
like La Vibora. It is way more comfortable since you’re not slamming into the side of the car.
But these vehicles are a nightmare for taller guests. There is very little legroom,
so just be warned if you’re over 6 feet tall. Once dispatched, you slowly ascend the lift hill.
Once at the top, you then twist down to the right. After this turn, the trough starts leveling off
and then dips downwards slightly before the next turn. Several turns on Alpine Bobsled have this
profiling and it’s honestly the best part of the ride. You can feel your bobsled momentarily
come off the trough and slam back down. This is more likely to happen in a heavier car,
but it’s a really neat sensation you can’t get on any other ride. If you watch a POV,
this can be observed whenever the camera has a rapid jerk and you hear a banging noise.
Alpine Bobsled then winds up into the first mid-course brake run.
And brace yourself for this transition. Any time you approach a brake run, a series
of guide rails sprout from the side of the trough so the vehicles properly line up with the brakes.
This transition will really bang your bobsled around. And the entry into
the first brake run is the most egregious since it seems to occur with more speed.
After being slowed down a bit, Alpine Bobsled twists down its largest drop.
And like the first drop, there’s a slight dip as you level off, which again has your bobsled go
airborne for a split second. You then navigate this upwards s-bend into another mid-course
brake run and the change of direction again can have your bobsled slightly leave the trough.
The second mid-course is followed by another twisting drop.
This one is far more gradual than the prior two. You then quickly twist to the left on
a 90 degree turn and wind upwards and to the right into a mid-course brake run. And you feel
the bobsled momentarily lift off the track yet again entering and exiting this 90 degree turn.
Off the third and final mid-course brake run, Alpine Bobsled slowly turns to the left
and then to the right. Due to how little speed you have, the bobsled likely won’t leave the trough on
this transition. You then meekly crawl into the final brake run, ending this unique coaster.
These Intamin bobsleds have two notable differences
in how they ride compared to the Mack ones. First, the Intamin ones are way smoother.
The Mack models have slatted troughs, so it almost feels like the wheels are riding over
a cobblestone road. Meanwhile, the Intamin ones have a smooth and continuous trough.
While this results in a more comfortable ride experience, the trade-off is the ride’s uptime.
Mack’s trough allows water to quickly drain. This isn’t possible on the Intamin ones.
Second, the Mack ones are more about the swinging up the sides of the trough.
While this happens on the Intamin ones, it’s far more gradual. The main thrills on the Intamin
ones come from when you physically feel your bobsled jump the track for a split second.
So what would I rate the Alpine Bobsled? I would give this coaster a 6 out of 10. Alpine Bobsled
is a problematic coaster. Between it’s atrocious throughput and downtime,
it’s a royal pain to ride. However, it is a pretty fun coaster if you can actually get on it.
The coaster itself is admittedly flawed. The transitions into the brake run are not good
and the layout is repetitive and anytime you build up speed, you head into a mid-course brake
run to kill the pacing. But this coaster is just so unique. The visual of riding
in an oversided trough- while similar to a tube slide- is a neat sensation on a roller coaster.
And this coaster has that element of feeling out-of-control between how you gently slide up the
walls and more importantly, those brief moments when you feel the bobsled leave the track.
Alpine Bobsled is easily the best steel coaster at Great Escape.
It’s moderate height and speed make it suitable for all ages while the novel riding position makes
it exciting even for seasoned coaster enthusiasts. I wish you the best trying to ride it.
I also wonder how much longer this coaster has. This ride has been rumored to have been on the
chopping block for years. Intamin no longer manufactures this coaster model. And I’ve
already touched on this ride’s low throughput and uptime issues. Add in the fact this ride
borders Great Escape’s water park, which seems more popular than the dry side most summer days,
and I think this coaster will likely be gone soon. But the fact the ride ran better in 2021
and also got some paint, gives me hope this unique ride may still have some life left.
So those are my thoughts on the Alpine Bobsled, the Intamin bobsled at the Great Escape.
What are your thoughts on this coaster? Have you had as many issues riding this coaster as me?
I would love to hear what you think about the Alpine Bobsled down in the comments.
If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it if you gave this video a like
and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot more roller
coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!