What is: Balder
Balder is a wooden roller coaster, located at Liseberg, in Gothenburg,
Sweden. The ride opened to the public as the world’s steepest wooden coaster,
boasting a drop angled at 70 degrees. At first glance, Balder looks a little repetitive.
It fits into a relatively tight spot at the back of the park, weaving in and out of its
own structure. Though, the ride itself is far from boring. Balder ranked as the world’s best
wooden roller coaster upon its debut, and continues to be highly regarded to this day.
Balder opened to guests for the first time on the 12th of April 2003. However, its history goes back
even further. In 1923, Liseberg first opened its doors to guests. Initially, the theme park was a
temporary event which coincided with the city’s 300th anniversary. One of the attractions built
for the event was Bergbanan, a side friction wooden roller coaster. Like many rides of
that era, it featured a brakeman, who sat on the train, controlling its speed as it navigated the
course. Bergbanan, and the park as a whole, were a success. So much so that the temporary event
never closed. Since 1923, Liseberg has evolved rapidly. As technology advanced, new rides came
to the park, and older ones left. By the late 1980s, Bergbanan was old news. Even though the
ride was enjoyed by many of the parks’ visitors, maintenance costs and space concerns eventually
led to its closure in 1987. Liseberg knew that one day they wanted to replace their traditional
wooden roller coaster with a new, modern equivalent. 16 years later, they did just that.
Immediately prior to the debut of Balder, Intamin, a manufacturer of roller coasters,
constructed an all-new type of wooden ride. They called it the prefabricated wooden roller coaster,
or prefab for short. Whereas traditional roller coasters are built on site, with wood being cut
to size by skilled craftsmen, the prefab was different. Its track sections were cut precisely
by machines offsite, allowing for it to be slotted together quickly at the park. This not only sped
up installation times, but also enabled stronger, and therefore taller, wooden roller coasters to
be built. Colossos opened at Heide Park in 2001 as the world’s first prefabricated wooden roller
coaster. Liseberg noticed this new type of ride and began talks with its manufacturer, Intamin.
They expressed their desire for a family-oriented coaster which would be accessible for most ages,
with as much airtime as possible crammed into the space provided. Liseberg marked a rectangular plot
of land for the new ride, called Balder’s field. They purchased Intamin’s new ride at
the cost of 100SEK, roughly 10 million USD; and shortly after, on the park’s 80th anniversary,
Balder opened to guests. It was an instant success. However, the park quickly encountered
a problem with Balder - it was too loud. The ride made guests scream, which caused the park’s
neighbors to complain. They demanded that Liseberg reduce the noise in some capacity. To resolve the
issue, sound barriers and tunnels were placed at specific moments throughout Balder’s layout.
These helped to contain the noise, redirecting it back into the park.
They also created several head chopper moments for the ride, enhancing the overall experience.
Interestingly, the name of the ride, Balder, wasn’t initially derived from Nordic Mythology,
rather it was based on the Balder’s Field, the land the attraction was built on. Although,
13 years after it opened to guests, Balder’s name would begin to make more sense. In 2016,
Liseberg announced their plans to retheme the area surrounding Balder, and construct
two new rides. Altogether, the new section of the park would become known as Myths and Legends,
with each ride being themed to norse mythology. For the 2017 season, Liseberg introduced Loke,
an Intamin Gyro Swing. It replaced the park's former pendulum attraction, as a new version of
the same ride - similar to Bergbanan and Balder. This was followed by the debut of Valkyria, a B&M
dive coaster, in 2018. All three rides share norse mythology themed names, each with their own story.
For example, Valkyria is themed to a valkyrie, a winged creature who is tasked to bring fallen
warriors from Earth to the afterlife. For Balder and Loke, their themed stories are closely linked.
In Norse Mythology, Balder, although invincible, was killed by Loki,
the trickster god. As Balder was beloved by all the gods, they wanted to resurrect him.
They travelled to the underworld, where Hel, the goddess of the underworld,
agreed to revive Balder if everything in the world weeped for him. Everyone did weep for Balder,
except for a giantess who was believed to be Loki in disguise. As a result,
Balder was unable to return to the living, and would remain in the underworld forever.
Liseberg themselves describe the ride Loke, as being the enemy of the roller coaster, Balder.
Both attractions were placed next to each other to allow them to “fight”. As Loke swings, its gondola
comes into close proximity with balder. Not only does this produce a cool visual effect from the
ground, but gives riders the illusion they’ll hit balder as they reach the apex of the swing.
That’s enough about norse mythology, theming and battling attractions though. The big question is:
what does a ride on Balder actually look like? Firstly, guests enter the queue beneath one of
the roller coasters final hills. Once in the station building, visitors then board one of the
rides’ two trains. Each one is made up of 5 cars, which seat guests in 3 rows of two. This leads to
a total of 30 riders per train, and capacity of roughly 1,149 riders an hour. Once ready, visitors
leave the station and immediately undergo a 180 degree right hand turn. They then begin the 36m
118ft tall climb. At the top, the trains complete a 2nd right hand turn. As riders begin to glimpse
the park from above, they dive towards the ground, through the banked first drop. Here, the trains
plummet down the 70 degree descent, reaching speeds of up to 90kmh 56mph in the process.
Riders then begin to climb the attractions’ first airtime hill. This leads the trains into a banked
180 degree turn to the right. Guests climb a 2nd airtime hill, entering a tunnel at its apex.
They then dive back towards the ground, complete another right hand turn, and enter a series of two
back-to-back airtime hills. Riders then navigate the roller coaster’s first banked left hand turn,
followed by another airtime hill enclosed by a tunnel. At this point, the trains follow the path
of the track above them. They enter a right hand turn, followed by a series of two airtime hills.
One last 180 degree left hand turn sees the trains complete another two back-to-back
airtime hills. The ride comes to an end with a final small turn and ascent, which leads
visitors into the final break run. Look, I told you it was a repetitive ride at the beginning!
Don’t let that put you off though. As mentioned earlier, Liseberg wanted to cram as much airtime
as possible into the 68 second ride. Based on the description of the 1070m 3510ft long layout,
I think they achieved just that. Overall, Balder provides a fantastic, smooth ride experience,
with a whole host of powerful airtime. It’s no wonder it quickly became one of the park’s star
attractions, beloved by both roller coaster enthusiasts and the public alike. In fact,
it still ranks highly to this day, gaining the spot of the 14th best wooden roller coaster in
the world, according to the 2020 Vote Coasters poll. Fortunately for those that do love Balder,
it isn’t going anywhere soon. The prefabricated nature of the ride means that Liseberg can swap
track pieces as they become worn out. In fact, the park has already been doing this to ensure
the ride remains the best it can, and will continue to for the foreseeable future.
Have you ridden Balder? If so, let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
Thank you for watching, and we’ll see you all next time.
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