The first ever ten inversion roller coaster opened on the 22nd of March 2002 at Thorpe Park, England. The initial reception of Colossus was great, being the most inverted roller coaster in the world was a real challenge for rides and wasn’t for the faint hearted. Four years later Chime-Long Paradise opened a replica of Colossus the only difference being the colour scheme.

  

Ten Inversion Coaster At Chime-Long Paradise

Ten Inversion Coaster At Chime-Long Paradise

 

During the planning and construction stages Colossus was know as Project Odyssey due to being built in a area themed around ancient Greece. The roller coaster was originally planned as an adaptation of Monte Makaya In Brazil. John Wardley took on the task and added two extra inversions as well as reducing the height. The first part of the ride is built below the station which enables the car to slow down before going into the inline twists, a very clever idea by the designers.

 

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Colossus At Thorpe Park

 

Manufacturers Intamin based the ride cars on the Hyper Coaster, this however caused safety problems as the cars allowed riders to lift their legs outside of the car. Metal bars were added to the side of the car to prevent this. In 2003 the cars were redesigned with new restraints which prevented this and enabled a much more comfortable and safer ride.

 

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Colossus Inline Twists

 

The ride has now been running successfully for 7 years, in recent years several safety nets have been added to the ride to catch anything which happens to fall from visitors while riding. Many riders have complained about the general state of the ride, a repaint and refurbishment is well overdue but going by Thorpe parks standards it may never happen.

 

I hope you have enjoyed the first ever Spotlight of Park Thoughts, look out for our next one coming soon.