[Cover Photo: Philms]
After the initial idea died back in 2013, Squaw Valley officials recently announced that they are bringing back their proposal for an alpine roller coaster dubbed the, “Timberline Twister.”
Related: Squaw/Alpine’s Base-2-Base Gondola Is One Step Closer To Reality
Which has a lot of Tahoe locals asking, ‘is Squaw Valley going full Six Flags on us?’ The answer: pretty much, yes.
Yesterday, the resort submitted application paperwork to Placer County concerning adding the alpine roller coaster that would be located between Red Dog and Far East. Andy Wirth says guests have apparently been bored @Squaw as of late saying, “our guests have told us loud and clear that they want more activity options when they come to visit.”
Apparently hiking, mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, climbing, SUP’ing, skiing, snowboarding, boating, birding, fishing, and the millions of other things to do around Lake Tahoe weren’t enough.
The resort claims the area is already zoned for such use and no glaring environmental impacts have been discovered as of yet. That said, the proposed coaster would include adding 6-8′ retaining walls in various spots above the base area.
What strikes us at Unofficial Networks as very shortsighted is the altercation of base area vistas that will soon be obstructed by such retaining walls and an alpine coaster. No longer will the base area views be as valuable, subsequently compromising the Squaw Valley experience for many future tourists.
Don’t believe us? Take a look at Steamboat’s base area as they put the finishing touches on their alpine roller coaster…
Steamboat President Rob Perlman hard at work testing out the new mountain coaster. It's set to open at noon Friday.https://t.co/K5zgP2tPE7 pic.twitter.com/mY8flAp8C1
— #SteamboatResort (@skisteamboat) September 6, 2017
Alpine Rollercoaster Overview
The Timberline Twister is a bobsled-like ride, but it is mounted on tracks so it can be operated in both summer and winter. The track is a loop such that passengers start and end at the same place, and each passenger rides on their own cart or “sled”. Upon mounting their sled, the rider is pulled uphill to the high point of the track by a motorized cable drive system in the track. Once at the top of the track, the sled automatically disengages from the cable system and the rider glides back down the hill under the force of gravity. Like a bobsled course, the down-track has a number of turns, dips, rolls and obstacles that make for an exciting ride. The rider controls his/her speed with a hand brake, and the maximum speed of the sled is automatically controlled.