Riding down the rolling Scottish hills with the wind blowing through your hair in an alpine coaster will soon become a reality. The Pentland Hills Regional Park is the place chosen for the new attraction, situated at the Midlothian Snowsports Centre.
What is an alpine coaster?
Using mostly gravity, alpine coaster are mainly found in mountainous areas and are a type of rollercoaster spread around a hill or a mountain going downwards.
The alpine coaster construction is well underway in Midlothian, and should be ready for the general public later this year. Once completed, the track is set to be 3215 feet (around 980 metre) in length, with a 550ft vertical drop, and even a helix. A helix, meaning “twisted” or “curved” in Greek is the kind of turn on rollercoasters which form almost 360 degrees.
The alpine coaster at the Midlothian Snowsports Centre can reach speeds of up to 28 mph, but does have a manual break for riders to control their speeds.
Some video footage has already been published by people testing out the track and it’s looking like so much fun! However, an opening date has not yet been announced for Scotland’s first alpine coaster.
Midlothian Council said on its website: “Work continues on the coaster to ready it for opening. We have not released an opening date yet, with several aspects of the ride still to be completed before this is announced.”
“At this stage, we ask that customers hold off calling reception regarding it. We will release more information as we get closer to opening.”