Mammut

Wooden coasters are a rare thing in Germany. At the time when the first amusement parks opened their gates here, wood has been considered as an outdated material for the track-bound thrill rides - steel coasters were seen as the state-of-the-art and very popular partly because of their relatively low maintenance costs, despite their larger price tag. That's why only two of these wooden type of rides are in operation in Germany to this date: At Movie Park Germany near Bottrop-Kirchhellen the trains of the wooden coaster Bandit rattle through the wooden structure since 1999 while visitors of Heide-Park, Soltau can experience wild ups and downs on Colossos since 2001. These rides are also showing a slow but continuous change in thinking: Wooden coasters are no longer seen as an antiquated type of roller coaster but rather as an interesting alternative to the rides made of steel.

At least as much history as the wooden coaster has the amusement park Tripsdrill in southern Germany. Since 1929 attractions for the whole family attract the visitors to the vineyards near Cleebronn. Every corner and every attraction in the park blends to the local culture with its charming and humorous theming. Whether it's a wild ride through the rapids in the "Waschzuber-Rafting" (Washtub Rafting) or a turbulent roller coaster ride on the "G'sengte Sau", the originality of the attractions is always visible. The newest major project of the park follows that tradition and the name alone already suggest large things: The new attraction in 2008 is called "Mammut".

Mammut is a new roller coaster, making it the third one of the park. Surprisingly though, Mammut isn't a steel coaster but rather the first wooden coaster of Tripsdrill and the area of southern Germany. For the owner and operator of Tripsdrill, family Fischer, the decision for the material wood was an easy one. The natural feeling of wood fits perfectly into the appearance of the park between grasslands, fields, vineyards and forests, where every attraction blends itself into the environment. Also there are many interesting theming ideas possible for a wooden coaster.

The name of the ride is an allusion to the mammoths of the primitive times and the mighty Redwood Tree, which is called "Mammutbaum" in German - both well known for their huge proportions and the new roller coaster is keeping up to that picture. With a total height of 30 metres, a track length of 860 metres and a top speed of approximately 90 kilometres per hour, Mammut is easily the largest roller coaster of Tripsdrill. 7000 cubic metres of dirt were moved as well as two million nails and one million screws used for construction. The total investment is six million Euro - it's fair to say that this truly is one mammoth of a project for the family park.

Well known names and manufacturers are involved in the creation of the new wooden coaster. At this it was important for the country connected owner family Fischer to find partners from Germany for the project, if possible. Thereby Mammut became the first wooden roller coaster completely "Made in Germany". The ride has been calculated by Ingenieurbüro Stengel which has done calculations for many coasters all around the world and has an outstanding reputation in the industry. The company Ing.-Holzbau Cordes GmbH & Co. KG was responsible for manufacturing the track and supports. They already had proven their talent at other large wooden coasters such as Colossos at the German Heide Park and Balder in Liseberg, Sweden. The trains for the ride, two sets of four cars each for six persons, have been provided by Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GmbH. The wood for the roller coaster came from German forests only, parts of them even from woodlands directly in the neighbourhood of Tripsdrill.

Special care has been taken for a long durability of the new wooden coaster. A time period of at least 50 years is set as an orientation value regarding this goal. To archive this, special construction-related methods were used. The roller coaster, for example, is built on a concrete plate so that the rain water can flow out of the attraction area easily. Furthermore, Ing.-Holzbau Cordes GmbH & Co. KG has not carpentered the track on site as usual with wooden coasters but produced it in advance and transported the finished track pieces to Cleebronn, where they only had to be put into the ride. That improved the accuracy of the track layout.

Responsible for the design of the ride is theme park designer Emmanuel Mongon who is planning the theming for Tripsdrill's attractions since 1995. Mammut will get an appropriate theme, too. In fact, a whole new area will be dedicated to the roller coaster: The sawmill. As soon as the whole area will be completely themed in 2010 the queue line as well as parts of the ride will go through the sawmill past many exhibition objects. But even now many layers of wood lie as theming in the station, waiting to be cut in pieces. Other authentic objects and of course saws are decorating the building, too. Also many pieces of decoration wood have been built into the structure of the wooden coaster. They are not important for the static of the ride but rather give it a very beautiful and recognizable look. The trains themselves are themed as one gigantic saw which cuts its way through the wooden structure.

We take a seat in one of the two trains and close our safety bar. The seats are padded and quite comfortable. They have no additional seat belts which could lessen the riding fun. The next "shift" begins with us and our train - sorry, our saw - begins to move. Out from the station follows a left turn. After that we go over a short straight section of track - the transfer track for getting trains on or off the storage track. After that we ride through a small drop and up the lifthill. Our train hooks into the chain and begins to move upwards. During our ascend a large portion of the track layout remains hidden from our view and the anticipation rises.

Up 30 metres off the ground we reach the top of the left and have barely time to enjoy the view. Instantly we drop down the 30 metres to the ground and rattle with 90 kilometres per hour through the valley. A high and heavily banked right turn follows which doesn't let our train loose much speed. After the following valley and the first hill we speed in a left-hand helix in which we first go upwards and then steadily downwards. We pick up a considerable amount of speed and rush over the next hill directly above the entrance of the ride before we speed past the queue line on the adjacent right-hand helix. The next hill lies directly under the lifthill and is followed by a sudden left turn of the track. Our saw now cuts its way through the wooden structure in quick left and right turns before we eventually are pulled out of our seats and plunge down into a pitch black tunnel filled with heavy fog.

We feel the directional change from a left to a right turn and immediately afterwards speed up again to broad daylight. Again we are forcefully pulled up out of our seats and at the same time are pushed to the left as our train cuts its way through the last metres from a right turn into the final brakes with still a considerable amount of speed left. Once we have been heavily braked only one last left turn lies between our train and the station. Then our ride is finally over and the sawing-job finished.

A new wooden roller coaster in Germany - that fact alone is already reason enough to celebrate. But after everyone can now ride the final product in the rural area of southern Germany, one thing is clear: The bold investment of Tripsdrill has paid off. Mammut has interesting theming ideas, a diversified and twisted track layout and above all is great fun - for the riders as well as for the spectators. The ride itself is absolutely suitable for families and therefore a perfect addition for the well-kept family park. Also, beside additional theming the next years will see other new attractions for a more complete overall appearance of the sawmill area. We congratulate Tripsdrill for this great new Mammut wooden roller coaster and are already looking forward to our next visit of the sawmill!