What is: Taiga
Taiga is a steel launched roller coaster,
located at Linnanmäki, in Helsinki, Finland. The ride opened to the public as Finland’s tallest,
fastest and longest roller coaster, three records previously held by two other Linnanmäki rides.
The park's striking location at the top of a steep hill, has led to the distinctive design of Taiga,
which cascades down the hillside. Infact, Taiga is only the latest in a long line of
unique rides and roller coasters to be built at Linnanmäki theme park.
The park’s entire existence is a result of an interesting set of circumstances. Throughout
the 1900s, Finland saw a trend of events in the form of small fairs held by charities.
Many of these charities were related to child welfare, such as ‘Save the Children’, ‘The Central
Union for Child Welfare’, and several others. They all had the same idea, fundraise by holding fairs.
The charities began to invest in amusement rides to increase the size of their fairs in the hopes
of raising more money. Following World War 2, the popularity of these events soared. Though, Finland
had just entered a depression, making it hard for these charities to buy new attractions, to
meet the demands of paying guests. Some charities instead went on to develop their own rides, but a
more concrete solution was needed to ensure their longevity. They had an idea; construct a more
sustainable semi-permanent fair to raise even more money. In the end, six child related charities,
known now as the Children’s Day Foundation, collaborated to make that idea a reality.
The plan was to open a park in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, operate it for a few years
to generate revenue, and then close it down. In the early 1950s, the city of Helsinki leased the
land the charities needed in the city, but it was in a rather unusual spot - at the top
of a steep hill. Just two months later, in May of 1950, Linnanmaki opened to guests.
The park’s name was actually inspired by the water tower that stands on the hill, and in english
roughly translates to “The Castle Hill.” Although Linnanmaki was only meant to last a few years,
the park turned out to be a huge success. Starting out as a simple small amusement park,
with a collection of out-dated attractions, it quickly grew. Today, Linnanmaki stands as
the largest theme park in the nation, attracting over a million visitors each year. On top of this,
in 2019, the foundation raised 4.5 million euros for their respective charities.
The park gained its first roller coaster a year after its debut in the form of Vuoristorata
vor-is-tor-ata, which translates to roller coaster in english. Opening in 1951, the ride is a Danish
designed wooden roller coaster featuring a brakeman - a person sitting on the train
which manually controls the speed of the ride via a brake lever. Vuoristorata vor-is-tor-ata became
the world’s newest wooden roller coaster to feature a brakeman, and remains only one of a few
types of rides like this operating today. It also kick-started Linnanmaki’s trend of building unique
roller coasters. In 1990, they built Pikajuna, then named City Express, a MACK Rides powered
coaster which navigates the park’s hillside. The turn of the new millennium saw them construct
Space Express, now Linnunrata lin-un-rata eXtra, a space themed roller coaster located inside of one
of the park's two water towers. Linnanmaki then collaborated with MACK Rides again to construct
Tulireki took-e-reki, the world’s first E-Motion coaster. This ride features tight turns and sudden
drops, similar to a wild mouse coaster. Though, only two E-Motion coasters were ever built;
and as of 2014, Tulireki remains the only one in operation. 2007 saw the construction of Kirnu,
the world’s first ZacSpin. Built by Intamin, the ride features free spinning seats which
rotate as they navigate the completely vertical layout. 4 years later, they debuted Salama,
a Maurer spinning coaster built over the park’s river rapids ride. While finally,
in 2011, Ukko opened to guests. Also built by Maurer, the ride pulls guests up vertically,
before dropping them back towards the ground in a compact layout. Though, none of these compare
to what was perhaps the most unique coaster in the park for many years, Vonkaputous. von-ka-put-ohse
Built in 2001, Vonkaputous was one of only two Premier Rides Liquid Coasters ever constructed.
At the time, it became Linnanmaki’s largest single investment to date, as well as the
park's largest steel roller coaster. In 10 passenger boats, guests would be pulled up a 24m
79ft tall lift hill, before navigating an unusual roller coaster layout. The ride would come to
an end with a rapid drop into a bed of water, spraying all those on board. As cool as this was,
both versions of the ride were plagued by issues. It struggled with system glitches
and overly sensitive infrared sensors. The other version of the ride lasted only 4 years,
and closed to guests in 2003. Linnanmaki were keen to make things work. By running only one
of the three ride vehicles designed for the attraction, it wasn’t as issue prone. So,
for the majority of its lifetime, Vonkaputous ran with only a single train, heavily increasing wait
times. On top of this, the large quantity of water required for the attraction,
and its unique nature, meant it was expensive to operate. Ultimately, these factors led to
the park announcing its closure in 2017, marking the end of the Premiere Rides Liquid Coaster.
Fortunately however, Linnanmaki were already working on its replacement. They teased that more
news would be coming soon. In fact, the park began working on Vonkaputous’ replacement back in 2015;
and from the start, their intention was to build a world-class roller coaster.
To do this, they sent out proposal requests to several different roller coaster manufacturers.
Within the request, Linnanmaki shared the preferred location of the station building,
the topography of the ride area, as well as a few other requirements. They wanted a launch coaster,
one with inversions, a vertical drop and a tophat. In the end, a company known as Intamin
was chosen. Intamin had already produced a range of other rides at the park, and park officials had
ridden some of their newest roller coasters - like Taron at Phantasialand, a similar ride to Taiga.
However, before Intamin began to create the new ride, its designer, Daniel Schoppen,
visited Linnanmaki for inspiration. By doing this, he was able to gauge how the audience of
the park were reacting to the current rides, and use that information for the new roller coaster.
Naturtally, the terrain found in that area of Linnanmaki heavily influenced the design of Taiga.
The designers at Intamin utilised the terrain to their advantage. Most roller coasters start with a
big drop and lose speed as they traverse the rest of the course. Due to the landscape, Taiga reaches
its top speed half way through the experience. On top of the terrain, the park’s new ride had
to navigate around the existing attractions at the park. Tulireki in particular was a challenge.
Intamin designed Taiga around Tulireki, mainly by making its track invert above the other ride.
Advertising of Linnanmaki’s new attraction formally began in March of 2018 with the first
teaser stating ‘something big is coming’. Further teasers were released during the same month,
providing new statistics about the ride, such as height, length and speed. Finally,
on 22nd March 2018, a picture of the attraction’s full layout was released, sparking
interest from roller coaster communities around the world. Linnanmaki continued to release more
information about the ride over time, including an animated pov towards the end of the year.
Taiga finally opened to the public on the 18th of June 2019 as the largest roller coaster
ever built at Linnanmaki. The name Taiga, by definition, refers to a region of boreal forests,
and is the main biome in which eagles live. The ride’s theme plays on this idea.
The story states that two eagles have built a nest at Linnanmäki, and as guests board Taiga,
they are taken on a surveillance flight around the park to check the perimeter.
To further the theme, the ride’s track has been painted sky blue,
while the front of each train resembles two different eagles, Felix and Fiona. The
attraction also features a soundtrack created by IMAscore, which further helps to sell the idea.
But, what does a ride on Taiga actually look like? First, guests board one of the two eagle
themed trains. Each one consists of 4 cars, which seat visitors in 2 rows of 2. This leads a total
of 16 riders per train, and a capacity of roughly 860 riders per hour. Once ready, guests leave the
station building and head towards the first launch. Seconds later, they’re accelerated
straight into the ride’s first inversion, a zero-g winder. They then fall towards the ground,
before whipping to the right. A long right hand turn later sees guests roll to the left,
then the right, which leads them into the ride’s second launch. Here, the trains are
accelerated once more, this time to a higher top speed. Riders climb the 52m 171ft tall top hat,
high above the hillside. They then plummet back towards the ground, before entering the ride’s
second inversion, an inverted airtime hill. The trains hang upside down, above one of the park’s
other rides, Tulireki. It’s at the bottom of this element where guests reach their top speed, 106kmh
66mph. They then quickly traverse a bunny hop, and enter a third inversion, an immelmann. The trains
climb a left hand bend into an s-hill, followed by a beyond 180 degree right hand turn. They then
navigate a downward s-curve, and an airtime hill which leads into a downward left hand turn. Riders
continue by traversing the attraction’s fourth and final inversion, a heartline roll. A final upward
right hand bend leads guests into the final brake run. During their experience, visitors navigate
1104m 3622ft of track, most of which takes place during the 60 seconds of actual ride time.
Overall, Taiga’s debut has been extremely well received. It’s said that in 2019, visitors numbers
were some of the highest the park had ever seen. On top of this, the ride is claimed to be one of
the best roller coasters ever built. It’s unique layout, generated by the interesting terrain,
helps it to stand out from the crowd. Those who ride Taiga love it, and many others are
now visiting the park to try it out. Have you ridden Taiga? If so, let us know your thoughts
about the ride in the comments down below. Thank you for watching, and we’ll see you all next time.