HO-LY FREAKING COW. If you, like me, have ever looked longingly at the Harry Traver or Prior and Church designs of the 1920s and lamented that you were born into the wrong era, think again. Only the Cyclone itself packs as many thrills into so small a footprint as Avalanche. The existence of this ride in 2005 is a minor miracle and a true blessing for the wooden roller coaster devotee.
While the Cyclone still reigns supreme by perfecting virtually every thrill available on a roller coaster, Avalanche takes a back seat to NO ONE in the intensity department. After its steep first drop, this ride is all about speed, airtime, and laterals.
SPEED. We see that word often on this board. Parks and manufacturers love to tout the speed of their coasters, and enthusiasts dutifully make the requisite prilgrimage each time the world speed record is broken. Avalanche is not the fastest coaster in the world, but it just may offer the highest perceived speed, and if youre in it for the ride, this is what counts. Unlike Top Thrill Dragster and its ilk, Avalanche doesnt just blast you down a straightaway and up into the cool blue of the stratosphere. Rather, it repeatedly hurls you face first into a mass of wood and steel. As you round the blind second turn, the steeply banked track appears to be flying right at you, as if ripped from its moorings by...well, an avalanche. The effect is so startling and exaggerated as to be almost cartoonish.
Yet while any good coaster should impart the sensation of speed, simple velocity is not the ultimate measure of a ride. For me, unbridled intensity is the benchmark of a great roller coaster, and this is where Avalanches airtime and laterals (often occuring simultaneously) come into play. They turn a fast ride into a budding legend. It is without a doubt a very physical experience, but not one that will leave you with cracked ribs, loose fillings, or realigned vertebrae. It may, however, scare you as you have not been scared by a roller coaster for some time.
If Top Thrill Dragster is like taking off from an aircraft carrier, Avalanche is like an Olympic bobsled run. If you are looking for a technological marvel, head to your nearest Six Flags or Cedar Fair park. If, however, total, wild abandonment is what you crave in a roller coaster, do whatever you need to do to get to Timber Falls Adventure. I have often harped on this in other reviews, so in the interest of integrity I should note that Avalanche is not a marvel of intricacy or variety. Its short, it has but a single drop, it only turns to the left, and the layout was obviously designed to encircle the park with whatever limitations that entailed. Im telling you it doesnt matter this time. If you love sustained intensity in a wooden roller coaster, you must visit Avalanche. For the old-school diehard, it makes the 21st Century feel like home.
|