Kärnan (roller coaster)

Kärnan
Hansa Park
Coordinates 54°04′37″N 10°46′48″E / 54.0769°N 10.78°E / 54.0769; 10.78Coordinates: 54°04′37″N 10°46′48″E / 54.0769°N 10.78°E / 54.0769; 10.78
Status Operating
Opening date July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)
General statistics
Type Steel
Manufacturer Gerstlauer
Designer Werner Stengel
Model Hypercoaster
Track layout Terrain
Lift/launch system Chain lift hill
Height 239.5 ft (73.0 m)
Drop 219.8 ft (67.0 m)
Length 4,051.8 ft (1,235.0 m)
Inversions 1
Max vertical angle 90°
Height restriction 51 in (130 cm)
Trains 4 cars. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 16 riders per train.
Kärnan at RCDB
Pictures of Kärnan at RCDB

Kärnan (also known as Oath of Kärnan ("Schwur des Kärnan")) is a steel roller coaster at Hansa Park, located in Sierksdorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Manufactured by Gerstlauer, the roller coaster is both the only full-circuit hypercoaster with inversions in Europe, as well as the second tallest roller coaster in Europe.[1] It is also the first roller coaster ever to have a "reverse freefall" drop on the lift hill.

History

Kärnan was first announced by Hansa Park in November 2013, following an extensive planning and development stage. Gerstlauer were chosen to manufacture the coaster, Kärnan being their first installation over 200-foot (61 m) in height. It will also be the third consecutive Gerstlauer coaster to feature in the park, following Fluch von Novgorod and Die Schlange von Midgard.[2]

Construction began on the tower element that will house the vertical lift hill in April 2014, with the tower itself being topped off in September 2014. Hansa Park confirmed that the coaster will feature a dark ride section with an inversion. Kärnan also has a 30-meter vertical reverse freefall drop during the vertical lift, a world first on a full-circuit roller coaster.

Karnan officially opened to the public on 1 July 2015, pending further addition of theming which will be completed by 2016.[3]

Characteristics

Trains

Kärnan will operate with 16 seat trains, laid out in 4 rows of 4, with lapbar restraints. These will likely be the same trains and restraints as found on Gerstlauer's Infinity Coasters, such as Karacho at Tripsdrill.[1]

Theme

Kärnan's theme will be based around the real life medieval tower, Kärnan, found in Helsingborg, Sweden.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kärnan Hansa Park minisite". Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  2. "Hansa Park Opening Hypercoaster in 2015". Coaster101. Coaster 101. November 22, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  3. "Pure thrills: In Sierksdorf is Germany's highest roller coaster". Sat.1 Regional. Sat.1 Regional. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, December 27, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.