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The Ultimate was a
steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated whee ...
located at
Lightwater Valley Lightwater Valley Family Adventure Park is a theme park in North Stainley, North Yorkshire, England. The park was once home to Europe's longest roller coaster, The Ultimate. Lightwater Valley was founded by Robert Staveley in 1969, and is now ...
theme park in
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Manufactured by
British Rail Engineering Limited British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was the railway systems engineering subsidiary of British Rail. Established in 1970, the maintenance arm was split as British Rail Maintenance Limited in 1987, and the design and building of trains was ...
, the roller coaster opened in 1991 as the longest roller coaster in the world, surpassing The Beast at
Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expan ...
in the United States. It held the record until the opening of Steel Dragon 2000 in Japan. The Ultimate operated through the 2019 season and was shutdown following the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. After several years of standing idle, the decision was made to remove the ride in 2023. Park management cited safety concerns and the costs to refurbish the ride as the reason, as well as the park's shift in focus to becoming more family-oriented.


History

The Ultimate was built from an investment of £5.2 million, designed from a concept created by the park's original owner, Robert Staveley. Construction work began in early 1990 and took eighteen months to complete. The roller coaster opened to the public on 17 July 1991. The engineering design was handled by Big Country Motioneering and Robert Staveley, and the park hired
British Rail Engineering Limited British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was the railway systems engineering subsidiary of British Rail. Established in 1970, the maintenance arm was split as British Rail Maintenance Limited in 1987, and the design and building of trains was ...
to oversee construction. Tubular Engineering manufactured the track. Modifications had to be made to adjust the banking in a few sections during the second half of the ride. Set within of woodland, The Ultimate took passengers along of tubular steel track, featuring two lift hills of that rested on Canadian
redwood Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affini ...
trestles. The duration of the ride lasted more than seven minutes, travelling an average speed of . It originally had over the shoulder restraints, but these were removed in favor of a lap bar following complaints.


Closure and demise

Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, The Ultimate did not operate in 2020. Following their purchase of the park in 2021, Brighton Pier Group stated, "The Ultimate is not dead in the water. It needs some work doing on it, but we are more than conscious of its iconic status. If we can do something with it, then we will. Obviously safety has got to be the priority, so in due course we will have a look at it and make sure it complies with modern standards." The ride never operated again, and demolition of the ride began in January 2023. Park owners clarified that time and effort was devoted in consideration of the ride's future. They released a statement saying, "The ride has been out of service for some years now and the process of assessing the viability of bringing it back into use was a long one. Nevertheless, given both the investment required to bring it up to acceptable standards of safety and the re-imagining of Lightwater Valley as a family-orientated Adventure Park, we have decided to close The Ultimate permanently and remove it from the park."


Ride layout

The Ultimate began by exiting the station on a short straight track, followed by a slight curve to the left into the first
lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from th ...
. After cresting the lift, the
train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
proceeded into the first drop, followed by two airtime hills, a slight curve to the left, followed by another airtime hill. After another slight curve to the left, the train traveled through a long stretch of straight track that cuts through a patch of woods. Following this section, there was a series of five small airtime hills (aka "bunny hops") that led into the second lift hill. After cresting the top of the second lift, the train continued straight, followed by a curve to the left, followed by another straight section leading into the second drop. Following the second drop, the train weaved through six banked turns that cut through the woods, hugging the terrain. After a series of small airtime hills and slight curves, the train cut through a short tunnel, followed by a
helix A helix () is a shape like a corkscrew or spiral staircase. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is formed as two intertwined helices, ...
up and to the left. Following the first helix, the train pulled into a second helix, down and to the right, into another tunnel. Following the second helix, the train continued on a long and slightly curved track into the final brake run, followed by a short lift hill back into the station.


Trains

The Ultimate had two blue trains, and originally one was painted red prior to the 2019 season. The trains consisted of ten cars with two rows of two seats. The front car had a small locomotive modelled on the front, which resulted in the front car having only one row. Each train featured a maximum capacity of 38 riders.


Incidents

In June 1994, a deer from a nearby forest strayed onto the track and was hit by the train. A 12-year-old boy was taken to the hospital as a result of the accident. In September 2014, another collision with a deer on the track occurred. No riders were injured, but the deer was killed instantly. Park officials stated that although the perimeter is fenced off, animals such as deer occasionally get in.


Ultimate in popular culture

Ultimate was recreated as "The Storm" in the "Katie's Dreamland" scenario in the original '' RollerCoaster Tycoon'' PC game. File:UltimateStation.jpg, Station of Ultimate File:UltimateTrain.jpg, One of the two trains on the first lift hill File:Lightwater Valley Ultimate.jpg, Riders' point of view of the first lift hill


References


External links


Ultimate Review and Photos on T-Park

The Ultimate on Coasterpedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ultimate, The Amusement rides based on rail transport Roller coasters in the United Kingdom Roller coasters introduced in 1991 1991 establishments in England