Park Review
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Soltau, Niedersachsen, Germany May 20, 2001
I'm sorry, but I can't stop raving about this coaster! Sunday, May 20th, I went to Heide Park in Germany, home of Intamin's Colossos. Colossos opened during Easter this year and is being advertised as the largest wooden roller coaster in the world. Right, maybe if we don't count 'the one with the loop'...
These are the statistics: Impressive by any standard, I would say. I got up at 4:15 and had to drive 250 miles to the park (a long drive by European standards). Some ten miles from the park I got lost. I headed in the direction which I thought was right and, after a couple of minutes, got my first glimpse of things to come: the unmistakable top of a lift hill peeking over the trees. My heart started beating a little faster. I was definitely going in the right direction! In the parking lot, I noticed someone that I know from a Dutch roller coaster forum and we teamed up to go to Colossos. As Colossos came into sight my heart started beating faster and faster. This monster is twice as big as the highest I have ridden and it certainly looks it! It is impressive mainly because of its height. The structure of the lift hill and turn to the first drop are very sleek - much less wood than I expected there to be, judging from pictures. We got in the line, which moved very slowly because there was only one train running. They had some minor maintenance to do on the other one (later that day they ran with two trains). We opted for the front seat. From other people I had heard that there is airtime in every seat and I wanted a good view on that awesome drop. (What is that buzzing sound I keep hearing?) After 45 minutes it was our turn. We stepped in the rather comfortable seats, fastened our seatbelts, and lowered the lap bars. While waiting for others to finish I had time to watch that lift hill going up, up, up in the sky. Did I really want this? Am I so masochistic? Before I had time to answer these and hundreds of other questions running through my mind, the train started up that hill, was caught by the chain lift, and hoisted up the incline. No click, click, click here � this lift was very silent and swift. During the climb you have a couple of moments to study the first drop and to notice how very steep it is. Are we going to roll down there? Then you make a 180-degree turn and the answer to that last question is answered: No way! We are not rolling, we are falling down! A fall that seems to go on forever! When your seat is connected to your butt again there's not much time to think that drop over because you're already shooting up the first hill. This is where I learned the true meaning of airtime. It starts before you're on top of the hill and continues until you're nearly all the way down the other side. It is three to four seconds of leaving the train to follow its course and let the lap bar keep you from flying out. Now I also know what that buzzing sound is � it�s the upstop wheels doing their very necessary job! After that, another such hill follows and again you're flying over it with high speed. Then another climb, this time into a swooping turn (after all, it is an out-and-back layout and you have to turn back somewhere) with some airtime . After passing a nice drop and a small hill with some airtime you enter the helix, which has a scary head-and-hand-chopper effect and is quite intense. Unfortunately, this was my first helix so I don't know how it compares to others. From what I've heard this one is very intense. One thing I know is that it is very hard to raise your hands when you are in the helix. Now comes the surprising part. After the helix there are three camelbacks which you pass with high velocity, and it's airtime galore again! Once more the upstop wheels are doing overtime and so is your lap bar, a very pleasant surprise. For me, Colossos was a revelation. I never knew airtime could be like this. It was also my first coaster with a real helix, and I have mixed emotions about it. The helix was okay, but I think I had rather seen one or two extra airtime hills because the helix takes some of the rhythm out of the ride. All-in-all it was well worth the long trip. The following link is to an on ride video of Colossos (10 MB) . With the sound on, you can hear the buzzing of the (upstop) wheels on the hills. http://www.colossos.purespace.de Danny
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