Cloud "Coaster" by Extreme Engineering

[Ian]

Yay, it's another one of those topics where we debate if something is a coaster or not.

At IAAPA this year, Extreme Engineering revealed this zip wire coaster. Bear in mind that the one in the images and video is only demo model, the real one will be swoopier, bigger and swing amongst trees and buildings (which sounds fab), but is it really a coaster? I rode the one at the IAAPA and thought it was ok. It felt more like a zip wire than a coaster and I found it slightly awkward to hold on to, especially with all the spinning. Call me dubious, but a "coaster" is easier to promote and sell than a zip wire" - it's all in the name.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9Aq1AaKlr0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tVEBqu6Hzo[/youtube]
[tweet]http://twitter.com/CoasterForce/status/666734443831427074[/tweet]

I noticed on coaster-count that they listed the coasters from IAAPA 2014 so if they do the same with this year, I'm counting it as a cred! Would you?

 

[peep]

This is very similar to the "cred" at Parc Saint Paul (I think a few other European parks have something similar).

http://www.parcsaintpaul.fr/les-telepheriques.html?lang=fr

Both are extremely debatable. But I'd say this is 100% not a new thing. A safer version, yes, but not a new thing.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

 

[DelPiero]

There's no way I would count this personally. It's a elaborate zip wire with turns. It doesn't look like, or as Ian felt, feel like a coaster.
Would be a great addition to farms etc who want an alternative to the sky trail type obstacle courses, but I wouldn't have any interest it going on it.

 

[Jarrett]

Reminds me of the Zip Rail in Hocking Hills that spited me on Veteran's Day! Yeah, I count that and similar installations with rigid track as coaster credits. It runs on a rigid track under gravity power and exerts a force vector on the rider, it's a coaster in my book.

 

[TilenB]

There's already a few of those operating round the globe, in Mexico, Florida and Australia. And they are all on coaster-count, so feel free to count them Ian. I still feel they are quite a way off the actual coaster and only see them as a more flexible version of a zip wire (e.g. it can make turns, etc.).

http://coaster-count.com/coasters/north ... 830#c12830
http://coaster-count.com/coasters/north ... 832#c12832
http://coaster-count.com/coasters/austr ... 833#c12833

 

[GuyWithAStick]

I'd count it as one. Though not as safe looking as most, it's a cred in my book.

 

[BBH]

It's such a not-cred.

It looks fun. But not a cred.

 

[vaugc002]

Surely in theory this is basically just an inverted alpine coaster? And they're creds, right?

 

[nadroJ]

It's clearly not a cred, but if it gets added to RCDB/Coaster-count I'll definitely just chuck it on the count. But yh, it's a zipwire.

 

[Zac]

It's 100% a cred. The only reason people don't see it as one is because you are in a harness, rather than on a seat. You even get suspended coasters that swing in a similar way. Clearly it isn't a zipwire because it has track, not a wire, which allows you to do far more than you could do with a zipwire.

 

[ECG]

Extreme Engineering has posted a video on Youtube that seems to show all their new installations for 2016. Most of them look like very basic layouts, but others have a bit more to them (even if it's just their location). I'll probably give them a try if they happen to be along my travels, but I'm definitely not going out of my way and I'm not counting them as credz.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFlpDGWQCW0[/youtube]