Gwazi

Each lift on Gwazi was 94 feet tall.  At the bottom of the first hill, the trains did a "Fly-By" at a combined speed of 100 miles per hour.  It was a neat effect!

Rocky Mountain Construction converted this wood coaster into a steel coaster in 2019 and 2020.  The new Iron Gwazi uses about a quarter of Gwazi's structure and nearly three quarters of its concrete foundations, but its new track is different from the old coaster in many ways.  Instead of two tracks that duel at multiple locations, the new coaster just has one track and one lift hill.  And the new lift is over twice as tall as this hill.  The new lift, which required new supports, is 206 feet tall.  The first drop is at an astounding 91°!  The new ride, which was supposed to open in 2020, but was delayed to 2021 because of COVID-19, holds the record for the fastest and steepest hybrid coaster.  Another major difference in the old and new Gwazi coasters is that the new steel ride features two inversions.

©2020 by Joel A. Rogers.