Nemesis (roller coaster)

Nemesis
The first corkscrew of Nemesis
Alton Towers
Park section	Forbidden Valley
Coordinates	52°59′13″N 1°52′58″W / 52.98694°N 1.88278°W / 52.98694; -1.88278Coordinates: 52°59′13″N 1°52′58″W / 52.98694°N 1.88278°W / 52.98694; -1.88278
Status	Operating
Soft opening date	16 March 1994 (1994-03-16)[1]
Opening date	19 March 1994 (1994-03-19)[2]
Cost	£10 million
General statistics
Type	Steel – Inverted
Manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
Designer	John Wardley, Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH
Model	Inverted Coaster – Custom
Track layout	Terrain
Lift/launch system	Chain lift hill
Height	13 m (43 ft)
Drop	31.7 m (104 ft)
Length	716 m (2,349 ft)
Speed	80.5 km/h (50.0 mph)
Inversions	4
Duration	1:20
Capacity	1400 riders per hour
G-force	4[2][1]
Height restriction	140 cm (4 ft 7 in)
Trains	2 trains with 8 cars. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.
Fastrack available
Nemesis at RCDB Pictures of Nemesis at RCDB

Nemesis is an inverted roller coaster located at the Alton Towers amusement park in England. The ride's concept and layout was devised by designer John Wardley. It was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) and opened in March 1994. It is located in the Forbidden Valley area of the park, adjacent to Galactica, a B&M Flying roller coaster that originally opened in 2002 as Air.

The 716-metre-long (2,349 ft) ride stands 13 metres (43 ft) tall and features a top speed of 80.5 kilometres per hour (50.0 mph). The four-inversion roller coaster was one of the first Bolliger & Mabillard rides to be installed outside of the United States and the first in Europe (as an independent company). The ride has been very well received, consistently ranking highly in industry polls.

History

Development history

In 1990, Alton Towers added the Thunder Looper roller coaster; the addition was only temporary due to planning restrictions imposed on its installation.^[3][4] The park began planning for a new roller coaster which would open prior the closure of the Thunder Looper.^[5] They desired a roller coaster that was big, different and exciting, but they were constrained by the tree-level height limit imposed on the park.^[6]

One of Nemesis' trains exiting the first corkscrew

Alton Towers approached Arrow Dynamics for the new roller coaster. The Utah-based company was working on a prototype of a pipeline roller coaster, similar to TOGO's Ultratwister design.^[6] John Wardley worked on the design of the ride which was originally to be themed around a secret military facility, codenamed "Secret Weapon 1" (SW1).^[5] Due to the design of the ride and the height restriction imposed on the park, SW1 would only have a track length of 300 metres (980 ft). Development of the project was put on hold a short time into the process, due to the financial problems being encountered by Arrow at the time and technical problems with the ride's design. The project was revived a year later under the codename "Secret Weapon 2"; rock blasting was used to clear more space for the larger ride.^[6] The project was again abandoned when Wardley rode the prototype, describing it as slow, boring, cumbersome and energy inefficient. The park began to look for an alternative.^[5][6]

Wardley became aware of a new roller coaster design being installed by Bolliger & Mabillard at Six Flags Great America. He subsequently entered into discussions with Six Flags who agreed to privately disclose information about the new ride, in exchange for a similar favour at a later date.^[6] Jim Wintrode, the general manager of Six Flags Great America at the time, proposed the concept of an inverted roller coaster that featured inversions. Although Wardley believed this would be impossible, Wintrode worked with Bolliger & Mabillard to develop Batman: The Ride.^[7][8] Wardley rode Batman: The Ride prior to its May 1992 opening and wanted to add a similar ride to Alton Towers.^[6][9]

The inverted roller coaster, then dubbed "Secret Weapon 3", was developed throughout 1992. Wardley and Nick Varney, marketing director of Alton Towers, came up with the name "Nemesis" and pitched a theming concept about an alien creature trapped beneath the park. Tussauds Studios elaborated on this, creating visuals for later promotion.^[6] Wardley also worked alongside Stengel Engineering to develop a layout for the ride which was exciting for both riders and non-riders; for example, the final inversion was built at the eye level of an observer.^[2][6]

Operational history

The £10 million Nemesis officially opened to the public on 19 March 1994, following a soft opening three days prior.^[2][1] It opened as one of the first Bolliger & Mabillard rides to be installed outside of the United States, along with Diavlo at Himeji Central Park, Japan, which opened four months later.^[10]

In August 2004, Nemesis gained the Guinness World Record for the "Most Naked People on a Rollercoaster". The ride set the record at 32 riders – the number of seats on a single Nemesis train.^[11] It took the record from Thorpe Park's Nemesis Inferno roller coaster which set the record at 28 just three months prior.^[12][13] The ride lost the record in 2010 when 40 naked riders boarded Green Scream Rollercoaster at Adventure Island.^[14]

In 2009, Alton Towers received several complaints from nearby residents regarding increased noise levels emitted from the ride. New wheels had to be installed on the two trains before the ride returned to normal operation.^[15]

Characteristics

Some of Nemesis' theming with the ride's first corkscrew in the background

The 716-metre-long (2,349 ft) Nemesis stands 13 metres (43 ft) tall, however, due to the modified terrain, it features a drop height of 31.7 metres (104 ft). With a top speed of 80.5 kilometres per hour (50.0 mph), the ride features four inversions including two corkscrews, a zero-g roll, and a vertical loop.^[2] Riders of Nemesis experience between 3 and 4 times the force of gravity on the 1-minute, 20-second ride.^[2][1] Nemesis operates with two steel and fiberglass trains, each containing eight cars. Each car seats four riders in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.^[2] As guests approach the ride a loud roar from the ride can be heard.

Ride experience

A Nemesis train travelling around the stall turn immediately after the vertical loop

Once the train is locked and checked the floor beneath it is lowered before the train then departs the station making a 45-degree, right-hand turn towards the lift hill. Once at the top of the 13-metre (43 ft) hill, the train makes a small dip and turns around 180 degrees to the left. The train then descends 31.7 metres (104 ft) down the first drop into the first inversion, a right-handed corkscrew. The train then navigates a right-handed, 270-degree downward helix that features 90 degree banking. Then the train rises up into the second inversion, a zero-g roll, where riders experience the feeling of weightlessness. It then makes a 180-degree right-handed stall turn into the third inversion, a vertical loop. After a left stall turn the train enters the second corkscrew. The train then passes through an underground tunnel, and through one more 180-degree turn, before being stopped by the brake run and returning to the station.^[2][16]

Reception

"Nemesis" has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, by park visitors and the industry as a whole. The roller coaster has continuously ranked high in worldwide polls and, as of 2007, featured queues in excess of an hour due to its popularity.^[17] More than 50 million people have ridden Nemesis since opening.^[18]

In Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards, Nemesis has consistently ranked highly. It is also one of only seven roller coasters to appear in the top 50 every year since the award's inception in 1998. It debuted at position 10 in 1998,^[19] before peaking at position 7 in 2003.^[19][20]

Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park

In Mitch Hawker's worldwide Best Roller Coaster Poll, Nemesis entered at position 5 in 1999, before dropping to a low of 12 in 2012. The ride's ranking in subsequent polls is shown in the table below.^[38]

Due to the success of Nemesis, park owners Merlin Entertainments have created two related rides. The first is Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park, another Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster. The ride opened in 2003.^[39] Alton Towers hosts the second related ride, Nemesis: Sub-Terra. The drop tower opened on the former Dynamo site in 2012^[40] and closed in August 2015 due to cost-cutting.

As a result, Nemesis is commonly compared with its Thorpe Park counterpart – Nemesis Inferno – with many citing Nemesis as the superior ride. Nemesis has ranked favourably in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards, being one of only seven roller coasters to appear in the top 50 steel roller coasters for all 15 years. Nemesis Inferno, on the other hand, has never made an appearance.^[41] In Mitch Hawker's worldwide Best Roller Coaster Poll Nemesis Inferno has an average ranking of 80, while Nemesis' average ranking is 6.^[38] In a poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times, Nemesis received 37.93% of the vote for title of best roller coaster in England, while Nemesis Inferno received 0.32%.^[42] Jeremy Thompson of Roller Coaster Philosophy describes Nemesis as "a vastly superior ride" to Nemesis Inferno.^[43]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nemesis (roller coaster).

• Official website
• Nemesis at the Roller Coaster DataBase

Alton Towers
Roller coasters	Runaway Mine Train (1992) Nemesis (1994) Oblivion (1998) Galactica (2002-2015 as Air) (2016) Spinball Whizzer (2004) Rita (2005) TH13TEEN (2010) The Smiler (2013) Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure (2015)
Other rides	The Blade as Pirate Ship (1980) Enterprise (1984) Congo River Rapids (1986) Hex – The Legend of the Towers (2000) Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back! (2003) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride (2006) Driving School (2006) Marauder's Mayhem (2008) Battle Galleons (2008) Twirling Toadstool (2009) Nemesis: Sub-Terra (2012) The Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - 4-D Experience (2012)
Past rides	Doom & Sons (1981–1992) Around The World In Eighty Days (1981–1993) Thunder Looper (1990–1996) The Beast (1988–1997) Nickelodeon: Outta Control (1997–1998) Boneshaker (1995–2003) The Black Hole (1984–2005) Dynamo (1993–2005) Toyland Tours (1994–2005) Corkscrew (1980–2008) Beastie (1983–2010) Submission (2001–2013) The Flume (1981-2015) Ripsaw (1997–2015)
Theme park areas	Towers Street Katanga Canyon Gloomy Wood Forbidden Valley Adventure Land X-Sector Mutiny Bay Cloud Cuckoo Land Dark Forest CBeebies Land The Towers & Gardens
See also	Alton Towers Waterpark Merlin Entertainments John Wardley History of Alton Towers The Grand Knockout Tournament