WhiteWater West

WhiteWater West
Private
Industry Manufacturing
Founded 1980 (1980)
Founder Geoff Chutter[1]
Headquarters Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Area served
Worldwide
Products Water slides, interactive play areas, lazy rivers, wave pools, FlowRider
Services Park planning, engineering, manufacturing, service
Number of employees
550 (2012)[1]
Divisions Hopkins Rides
Prime Interactives
Website www.whitewaterwest.com

WhiteWater West is a manufacturing company based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1980 and manufactures a variety of products for water parks including water slides and water play areas. The company also owns Hopkins Rides and Prime Interactives which manufacture water rides for amusement parks and dry play areas, respectively.

History

In 1980, WhiteWater West was established by Geoff Chutter, a former accountant.[1][2] The company's first project was the WhiteWater Waterslide and Recreation Complex in Penticton, Canada.[3]

In 1982, WhiteWater West acquired WhiteWater Composites. This was followed by the merger with Brookside Engineering in 1985 and Barr & Wray in 1987.[3]

In 2002, WhiteWater acquired Prime Play (now Prime Interactives).[3] Ten years later, in August 2012, WhiteWater West announced the acquisition of Hopkins Rides. The company will continue to operate as Hopkins Rides.[4][5]

Commercial structure

WhiteWater West consists of a water slide and water park product manufacturing arm, with three divisions which manufacture water rides and dry play areas for amusement parks, respectively.[2][4] The company also has licenses with other companies to market and sell products under the WhiteWater West banner.[6][7]

Prime Interactives is a division of WhiteWater West which began in 1993.[8] The division began by manufacturing a variety of soft play areas.[8] Prime Play also manufactures former WhiteWater West-branded products including the Spinning Rapids Ride and Water Coaster.[9][10] The division handles sales of products manufactured by Ropes Courses, Inc., such as ropes courses and zip-lines, in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.[8][11]

Hopkins Rides is WhiteWater West's latest acquisition.[4] The company began in 1962 as a manufacturer of ski lifts before moving into log flumes, water rides, steel roller coasters and ropes courses.[12] Since filing for bankruptcy in 2001, the company simplified its product offering, reverting to solely water ride manufacturing.[13][14]

WhiteWater West currently licenses the AquaLoop looping water slide from Aquarena as well as the FlowRider sheet wave attraction from Wave Loch.[6][7][15]

Products

AquaLoop at Wet'n'Wild Water World (WhiteWater West AquaLoop)
Mayan Temple Water Slides at Atlantis Paradise Island (WhiteWater West Freefall)
Taumata Racer at Aquatica Florida (WhiteWater West Whizzard)

Water slides

Other attractions

Notable installations

As of 2012, WhiteWater West has completed between 4,000 and 5,000 projects worldwide, currently averaging about 250 per year.[1] Some notable installations include:

Awards

WhiteWater West has been awarded over 50 awards.[3] These include:

Year Presenter Category Recipient
Won 2012 IAAPA Best New Product Technology Applied to Amusement - SilkGel [23]
Won 2012 IAAPA Best Exhibit Hopkins Rides [23]
Won 2012 Aquatics International Most Valuable Product Award AquaSplash [24]
Won 2011 IAAPA Industry Image Award WhiteWater West [25]
Honorable Mention 2011 IAAPA Major Theme/Amusement Park Ride Skytrail Ropes Course by Prime Play [26]
Won 2011 World Waterpark Association Industry Innovation Award Acrylic Master Blaster on a Cruise Ship [27]
Won 2010 Aquatics International Most Valuable Products Award Silktek [27]
Honorable Mention 2010 IAAPA Best New Product Award Abyss on a Carnival Cruise Lines ship [28]
Honorable Mention 2010 IAAPA Best Exhibit WhiteWater West [28]
Won 2010 World Waterpark Association Industry Innovation Award AquaLoop [27]
Won 2010 Amusement Today Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride (Waterpark) AquaLoop (Scorpion's Tail at Noah's Ark Water Park) [27]
Won 2009 IAAPA Best New Product AquaLoop [27]
Won 2008 Amusement Today Golden Ticket Award Master Blaster at Atlantis Paradise Island [27]
Won 2008 IAAPA Best New Product Award Family Boomerango (6 person) at Wet'n'Wild Phoenix [29]
Won 2007 IAAPA Best New Family Entertainment Center Comfy Entertainment Centers: The Comfyland Experience [27]
Won 2007 IAAPA Best New Product Award Family Boomerango (4 person) [27]
Won 2006 IAAPA Best New Product Whizzard [27]
Won 2006 IAAPA Best Waterpark Ride Master Blaster at Schlitterbahn [27]
Won 2006 World Waterpark Association Industry Leadership Award for Suppliers: Manufacturer WhiteWater West [27]
Won 2005 IAAPA Best New Product Zip Coaster [27]
Won 2004 IAAPA Best Equipment and Supplies SilkTek [27]
Won 2003 IAAPA Best Waterpark Ride & Attraction AquaPlay Rainfortress [27]
Won 1994 IAAPA Best New Product in the Park Master Blaster [27]
Won 1993 IAAPA Best Waterpark Product Master Blaster [27]
Won 1993 IAAPA New Major Ride Master Blaster [27]
Won 1993 IAAPA New Technology Master Blaster [27]
Won 1991 World Waterpark Association Industry Leadership Award WhiteWater West [27]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Luke, Paul (12 August 2012). "White water world". The Province. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  2. 1 2 "WhiteWater | Water Park Slide Manufacturer". WhiteWater West. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "WhiteWater West celebrates 30 years of success in the waterpark industry" (PDF). Interpark. August–September 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 "WhiteWater Acquires Hopkins Rides". WhiteWater West. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  5. "WhiteWater acquires Hopkins". Park World Magazine: 6. September 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "AquaLoop". WhiteWater West. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  7. 1 2 "FlowRider Double". WhiteWater West. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 "Company Profile". Prime Play. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  9. "Spinning Rapids® Ride". Primeplay.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  10. "Water Coaster™". Primeplay.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  11. "Developing Custom Challenge Courses". Ropes Courses, Inc. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  12. Slade, Gary (November 1989), "O.D. Hopkins Enjoys Past, Anticipates Bright Future", Inside Track: 2–3
  13. "O. D. Hopkins Building on the Block". Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  14. "Hopkins Amusement Park Rides". Hopkins Rides. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  15. 1 2 Whittaker, Beth (9 February 2009). "WhiteWater/Wave Lock in new agreement". Interpark. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Waterslide Guide" (PDF). WhiteWater West. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  17. "New attractions for Coast theme parks". Gold Coast Bulletin. 14 July 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  18. Stojceska, Milena (17 September 2010). "Wet'n'Wild's new AquaLoop set to thrill". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  19. "AquaCourse Brochure" (PDF). WhiteWater West. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Waves by WhiteWater" (PDF). WhiteWater West. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  21. Coy, Jeff (19 July 2010). "Waterslides, aqua parks - cruise lines compete for families". Global Travel Industry News. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  22. Sim, Nick (9 September 2010). "Preview: Storm Surge, Thorpe Park's new Spinning Rapids ride for 2011". Theme Park Tourist. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  23. 1 2 "2012 Brass Ring Awards".
  24. "2012 Most Valuable Product".
  25. "WhiteWater Wins IAAPA's Image Award". BlooLoop. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  26. "2011 Best New Product and Impact Award Winners". IAAPA. 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "Celebrating 30 Years of Milestones" (PDF). WhiteWater West. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  28. 1 2 "2010 Exhibitor Awards". IAAPA. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  29. "WhiteWater Establishes Australian Operations". Australasian Leisure Management. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2012.

External links

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