Coaster Statistics
Location: Alton Towers, Staffordshire, England
Type: Inverted
Year Opened: 1994
Max. Height: 104ft
Max. Speed: 50mph
Length: 2350ft
Max. Drop: 43ft
Inversions: 4
Cost: �10 million
Manufacturer: Bolliger and Mabillard
"Whilst creating Forbidden Valley the workmen discovered a buried alien life-form. The Ministry of Defence decided the best thing was to contain it with a steel structure, and that structure has developed into the ride Nemesis."
Due to the height restrictions at Alton Towers it was decided that the new rollercoaster, code named SW3 - Secret Weapon 3 - would have to be built partially underground. Work then began in 1993 on blasting out a hole alongside the Thunder Looper in the then called Thunder Valley. John Wardley, the chief ride designer commissioned B & M of Switzerland to produce the ride, the first Inverted Coaster in the UK. The ride is unique in that the cars hang from the track, allowing riders legs to hang from the car.
The ride was themed along the alien life-form, with the loading station constructed to look like the alien and the tracks to look like the steel enclosure. The hole in which the ride is built, blasted from solid rock, has a pool at the bottom, of blood, fed from cascading waterfalls tumbling from the rocks above. The ride was designed so that you cannot see all of the track from one single point. The queue line twists and turns through the quarry, going round each corner offering another view of the ride.
Finally you enter the boarding station. At this point you have the option to join the queue for the front seats (which can add an extra 30 minutes to your queue time). When you turn finally comes, the train enters the station, and the floor raises up to allow people to get on and off. You sit in the moulded seats and the over-the-shoulder harness is secured, the floor drops away and you're off!
You climb the 32m high lift hill, swinging your legs, and then after a short drop, building up speed you enter the first inversion, more inversions, barrel rolls, zero g rolls and tight turns follow before rising up to the highest point for a very sharp turn before plunging back down towards the pool of blood, reaching 81km/h at the bottom for the vertical loop.
The ride is fast and intense, but, as with most B&M coasters, incredibly smooth. Nemesis may not be the fastest, highest or longest inverted coaster in the World, but due to the incredible themeing, it must be the most exhilarating, shooting through rock canyons, hurtling towards solid rock faces and twisting and turning around the rest of the track.
