A summer toboggan is an amusement or recreational ride which uses a bobsled-like sled or cart to run down a track usually built on the side of a hill. There are two main types: an alpine coaster or mountain coaster is a type of roller coaster where the cart runs on rails and is not able to leave the track, whereas with an alpine slide the cart simply runs on a smooth concave track usually made of metal, concrete or fiberglass. Both of these types of ride are sometimes denoted with the German name sommerrodelbahn.
They are often built by ski resorts in order to use existing winter infrastructure and provide additional summer income, although some installations are part of amusement parks or are standalone.
As of 2007[update], the longest summer toboggan in the world is the 17,400 feet (5,300 m) long Tobotronc alpine coaster at Naturlandia in Andorra.[needs update][1] The highest in the world is the 3,300 feet (1,000 m) long Glacier 3000 alpine coaster in Gstaad, Switzerland which starts at an elevation of 9,747 feet (2,971 m).[2]
The type of track, safety features, speed and layout vary by manufacturer. The inventor of the Alpine coaster and a leading manufacturer of both types, with over 130 installations throughout the world, is Wiegand Sports GmbH.
- ^ "Tobotronc".
- ^ "Alpine Coaster" Archived July 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Glacier 3000. Retrieved on July 8, 2014.