Yukon striker enjoys rapid progress
Canada’s Wonderland is thrilled to see such rapid progress on its new world-record breaking Bolliger & Mabillard dive coaster, Yukon Striker. The entire coaster consists of 107 track pieces and 42 support columns. The largest column is 63 meters (207 feet) high and over a meter (3 feet) in diameter. In the new year the trains will arrive, they will finish building the station, queue lines, complete landscaping and install canopies, lighting, and sound systems. Finally will come a lot of testing.
The track is on schedule to be finished by end of the year. Currently, the track is about 90% complete. Nearing completion is the helix, 360º loop, Immelmann #2, and connection to the mid-course brake run. The entire coaster consists of 107 track pieces and 42 support columns. The largest column is 63 meters (207 feet) high and over a meter (3 feet) in diameter. In the new year the trains will arrive, they will finish building the station, queue lines, complete landscaping and install canopies, lighting, and sound systems. Finally will come a lot of testing.
When complete, Yukon Striker will establish three world records. It will become the fastest dive coaster, the longest dive coaster, and the tallest dive coaster. Riders will be seated in one of three trains consisting of three rows of floorless stadium-style seats, eight across each row. Taken to the top of the lift hill they will pause just over the summit for several seconds before dropping 75 meters (245 feet) at a 90º angle into an underwater tunnel, reaching a speed of 130 km/h (80 mph). Straight out of the tunnel riders will experience a special flip called an Immelmann, which climbs into a vertical loop, the only one on a dive coaster, then twists away into a partial roll. This twist is so good, Yukon Striker will take riders through two of them. The coaster will dip below grade a second time after the loop into a “mineshaft” before climbing out and into the second Immelmann. To cap off the experience, riders will enter a 360º horizontal Helix with guests walking on a pathway beneath them just before returning to the station. They will have covered 1,105 metres (3,625 feet) of track.
