Alton Towers
Alton, near
Manchester, UK
Opened
4 April 1980
Size
324 hectares
Scariest ride
The
Smiler has entered
the
Guinness Book of
Records
for the ride
with the most loops
– 14 – and it reaches
speeds of up to 84kph.
One for kids
Water ride Battle
Galleons allows kids
to squirt each other
and those on land with
water cannons.
Landmark attraction
You can visit the
historic gardens –
including Chinese
pagoda fountain and
conservatories – begun
in the early 19th
century and the Towers
that give the theme
park its name in this
former home to the
Earl of Shrewsbury.
altontowers.com
Norwegian flies to
Manchester from
Oslo, Stavangar and
Stockholm
It was my dream from childhood to design roller
coasters. When I was young, I was too scared to go on
roller coasters, but I was fascinated by these massive
pieces of steel that were so intimidating.
I’ve been at Gerstlauer for three years, but have
been lucky to work on a few record-breaking
coasters. I designed the world’s steepest roller
coaster – Takabisha at the Fuji-Q Highland park in
Japan – which has a drop of 121
o
, a negative angle,
and Veil of Dark at Tokyo’s Joypolis, the world’s only
spinning coaster with an inversion.
We started on The Smiler in 2011, whenMerlin
[owners of Alton Towers] came to us for a roller coaster
with the most loops in the world. It’s definitely special.
The idea was that people can’t figure it out – you look
at the track and there’s no way of telling where it goes.
Even I had trouble when I rode it – it’s total confusion.
There’s a lot of planning behind that feeling. We
work with computerised 3D models and it’s always
about being as creative as you can within certain
restrictions. At Alton Towers, for example, you have
to keep below the treeline and they also have old
trees you can’t cut down. And you have to think
about the person riding – is there enough clearance
between the tracks? Will the G-force be too much?
The maximum G-force allowed in European law is
6Gs, and even then it’s only allowed for a fraction of
a second. The Smiler hits 4.8Gs.
When it comes to testing something like The
Smiler, we use crash test dummies filled with water.
They weigh the same as humans, but we can empty
the water and transport them easily. You test the
ride empty and overloaded – a packed train runs
faster than an empty one – and eliminate all safety
concerns. Most of the harnesses and bars have two
locking devices, in case one fails.
I rode The Smiler before the public – it was a
thrill, but it was less “I designed this!” and more just
enjoying the ride like a child. Hopefully that’s a good
sign.
gerstlauer-rides.de
Norwegian flies to New York City, Fort Lauderdale,
Copenhagen and Manchester. Book flights, a hotel
and a rental car at norwegian.com
The Smiler is Alton Towers’
newest attraction – but
you have to be at least 1.4m
tall to ride the world’s first
14-looping roller coaster
The rollercoaster designer
Andreas Simonis
is a designer at Gerstlauer, a German company that has designed
and manufactured more than 50 rollercoasters in the past 15 years. He tells us about
his design for The Smiler at Alton Towers, near Manchester, which has 14 inversions,
the most in the world
“The
Smiler
was
designed
to induce
total
confusion”
0 6 4 \
n
