Montaña Rusa was a wooden

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

La Feria Chapultepec Mágico (), simply branded as , was an amusement park in Mexico City, Mexico. Located in the middle of Chapultepec Park near the Constituyentes Metro station, it opened in 1964 as () and was originally operated by the Mexican government. In 1992 Gr ...

in Mexico City, Mexico. In 1993, it was renamed ''Serpiente de Fuego (Serpent of Fire)'' but later it was changed back to Montaña Rusa. For several years, Montaña Rusa held the record of world's tallest roller coaster. With the conversion of Medusa at

Six Flags México Six Flags México is a amusement park located in the Tlalpan forest and borough, on the southern edge of Mexico City, Mexico. It is owned and operated by Six Flags, and is the most visited theme park in Latin America with 2.8 million annual visi ...

into a hybrid roller coaster in 2014, Montaña Rusa was the last wooden roller coaster in Mexico. In 2020, it was announced that Montaña Rusa would be removed from the park. The coaster was dismantled in July 2022.

History

Montaña Rusa was constructed in 1964 by International Amusement Devices, Inc. and was designed by

Aurel Vaszin Aurel “Dutch” Vaszin (1885–1979) was a carpenter, engineer and roller coaster designer, best known for heading the National Amusement Device company and designing some of the largest roller coasters of his day. Life and work Vaszin was born ...

and Edward Leis. Aspects of the coaster's design served as an inspiration for the designers of future roller coasters, such as

Screamin' Eagle Screamin' Eagle is a wooden roller coaster located at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, Missouri. When it opened on April 10, 1976 for America's Bicentennial celebration, Guinness World Records listed it as the largest coaster at high and as the f ...

and

Colossus Colossus, Colossos, or the plural Colossi or Colossuses, may refer to: Statues * Any exceptionally large statue ** List of tallest statues ** :Colossal statues * ''Colossus of Barletta'', a bronze statue of an unidentified Roman emperor * ''Col ...

. In the 1980s, Montaña Rusa underwent a major $800,000 renovation and refurbishment for safety and ride comfort. Following the work, the original coaster builder responded with a tongue-in-cheek remark that he was "at least 80 percent sure" that roller coaster passengers would remain in the trains' seats. MontañaRusa

In 2006, Luis Felipe Santamaría set a record for roller coaster endurance by riding on Montaña Rusa for a total of 1,333 consecutive rides. He did not leave the train, and only briefly stopped for medical checks. Santamaría both ate and slept on the roller coaster. In April 2022, works began to demolish the structure, marking the final of the "Montaña Rusa" as La Feria de Chapultepec is going to become "Parque Aztlán", with Mexico City as the main theme for future attractions.

Layout and ride experience

The layout of Montaña Rusa is unusual in that it is a Möbius loop coaster. This coaster design means that a left-track ride will result in a return on the right-track side and vice versa; it also means that the coaster has a continuous track of . Montaña Rusa is one of only a handful of such coasters in the world. In 1979, roller coaster expert Robert Cartmell rated it as being the 8th best roller coaster in North America—as well as rating it the "most brutal", a characteristic that stemmed partly from Mexico City's altitude.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montana Rusa Roller coasters in Mexico Roller coasters introduced in 1964 1964 establishments in Mexico 2019 disestablishments in Mexico