Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) is a roller coaster manufacturing and construction company based in Hayden, Idaho, United States. It is best known for its I-Box track and Topper Track for

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also be ...

s. Founded by Fred Grubb and Suanne Dedmon in 2001, it has built over 20 roller coasters. In 2023, amusement ride manufacturer Larson International merged with it.

History

In 2001, Rocky Mountain Construction was established by Fred Grubb and Suanne Dedmon. Fred Grubb previously had experience in the construction industry having worked on custom homes and

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

exhibits. The company has worked on several projects including the construction of

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

water park A water park (also waterpark, water world, or aquapark) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming ...

steel building A steel building is a metal structure fabricated with steel for the internal support and for exterior cladding, as opposed to steel framed buildings which generally use other materials for floors, walls, and external envelope. Steel buildings a ...

s, miniature golf courses and go kart tracks. In 2009 Alan Schilke of Ride Centerline began providing design and engineering work for Rocky Mountain Construction. He previously worked with Arrow Dynamics (later S&S Worldwide) to design Tennessee Tornado, Road Runner Express, and X. Working with Rocky Mountain Construction, Schilke and Grubb designed the I-Box track for wooden roller coasters. The first installation of this track technology debuted on New Texas Giant at

Six Flags Over Texas "Six flags over Texas" is the slogan used to describe the six sovereign countries that have had control over some or all of the current territory of the U.S. state of Texas: Spain (1519–1685; 1690–1821), France (1685–1690), Mexico (1821� ...

in 2011. In late 2011, Schilke announced that the company would be working on two projects throughout 2012 which would both open in 2013. These were later revealed to be an I-Box retrack of The Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and a new roller coaster designed from scratch at

Silver Dollar City Silver Dollar City is a theme park in Stone County, Missouri, near the cities of Branson, Missouri, Branson and Branson West, Missouri, Branson West. The park is located off of Missouri Route 76 on the Indian Point peninsula of Table Rock Lake ...

named Outlaw Run. The track technology used for Outlaw Run, which allows a square beam of wood to be twisted, took 4 years to develop. It allows Rocky Mountain Construction to design layouts with maneuvers that are not traditionally possible with wooden roller coasters such as heartline rolls. Grubb has stated the technology could be used for new elements in the future. Some new elements were realized with the announcement of ''

Goliath Goliath ( ) was a Philistines, Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's giant, immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challen ...

'' at

Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great America is a amusement park, theme park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The theme park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, as one of two theme parks built ...

. The ride features a

dive loop Roller coasters are widely known for their drops, inversions, airtime (rides), airtime, and other intense ride elements that contribute to the ride. They are also made up of a variety of features and components responsible for the mechanical opera ...

and a

zero-g stall Roller coasters are widely known for their drops, inversions, airtime, and other intense ride elements that contribute to the ride. They are also made up of a variety of features and components responsible for the mechanical operation and safety ...

. The ride opened in June 2014. In 2013, Rocky Mountain Construction signed a deal with Dutch amusement ride firm

Vekoma Vekoma Rides Manufacturing is an amusement ride manufacturer. Vekoma is a syllabic abbreviation of Veld Koning Machinefabriek (Veld Koning Machine Factory) which was established in 1926 by Hendrik op het Veld. History The company originally manu ...

. The agreement allows Vekoma to sell Rocky Mountain Construction's roller coasters outside the North American market. In 2014,

Kolmården Wildlife Park Kolmården Wildlife Park () is a zoo that opened in 1965 overlooking Bråviken bay in Sweden. It is the largest zoo in Scandinavia, includes the first dolphinarium in Scandinavia, which opened in 1969 and has daily shows, and the world's first ...

in Sweden announced plans to build the first Rocky Mountain coaster in Europe called

Wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

, which opened on June 28, 2016. To handle increased demand, Rocky Mountain Construction opened a new factory, twice the size of their existing one, in August 2014. In a press release on April 11, 2023, amusement ride manufacturer Larson International, known for its Fire Ball models, merged with Rocky Mountain Construction.

Technology

* I-Box Track (also known as Iron Horse Track) – Rocky Mountain Construction's most common product. A formation of replacement steel track for wooden roller coasters. The first installation of this track was on Texas Giant at

. * I-Box (Large Track Version) – Specifically designed to run the S&S Free Spin 4D coaster clones. * Topper Track – Installed on several coasters around the United States. The track is designed to reduce the maintenance required for a wooden roller coaster and provide a smoother ride experience. This steel track replaces the upper layers of laminated wood. * Wooden roller coaster

trains A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

– specifically designed to run on the company's own Topper Track, however, they could be added to other wooden roller coasters as well. The trains feature steel wheels as opposed to polyurethane wheels found on most trains. * 208 ReTrak – Debuting in 2021 on Silverwood's Tremors roller coaster, similar to the I-box track, 208 is designed to be used as a replacement for sections of old wooden coasters to decrease maintenance and add lifespan to the coaster as well as increase rider comfort and enjoyment. * Wild Moose – A version of the classic wild mouse coaster type using I-Box track, featuring entirely redesigned trains and a compact layout. * Raptor Track – A single rail steel track that features inline seating for passengers. * T-Rex Track – Similar to Raptor track, the T-Rex track is a single rail track. It is a larger single rail model that permits two seat-wide trains on the track rather than one. * Swing Axle Trains – Debuting in 2018 on Twisted Timbers, the Swing axle train features a pivoting front axle allowing for smoother transitions between elements.

List of roller coasters

, Rocky Mountain Construction has built or refurbished 29

s around the world. All of them are currently operating, except for the newest which has not yet opened to the public.

Other projects

Topper Track, no layout changes

* Tremors at

Silverwood Theme Park Silverwood Theme Park is an amusement park located near the city of Athol in northern Idaho, United States, near the town of Coeur d'Alene, approximately from Spokane, Washington on US 95. Gary Norton opened the park on June 20, 1988. ...

Construction

Aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in Epicenter, the same area of the Mainshock, main shock, caused as the displaced Crust (geology), crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthq ...

Corkscrew A corkscrew is a tool for drawing Cork (plug), corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix (often called the "worm") attach ...

* El Toro at

Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great Adventure is an amusement park located approximately southeast of Trenton, New Jersey, Trenton in Jackson Township, New Jersey. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park complex is situated between New York City and Philadelph ...

* T Express at

Everland Everland () is South Korea's largest theme park. It is located at the Everland Resort in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. In 2018, it received 5.85 million visitors and was ranked 19th in the world for amusement park attendance. As of 2010, Everla ...

* Timber Terror at

* Tremors at

Villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

Geauga Lake Geauga Lake was an amusement park in Bainbridge Township, Geauga County, Ohio, Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio, Aurora, Ohio. It was established in 1887, in what had been a local recreation area adjacent to Geauga Lake (lake), a lake of th ...

* Timberhawk at Wild Waves Theme Park Source:

Repairs

* The Boss at Six Flags St. Louis *

* Cornball Express at

Indiana Beach Indiana Beach is an amusement park located on Lake Shafer in Monticello, Indiana. The resort was developed by the Spackman family, who owned it from 1926 to 2008. The park was then sold to Morgan RV LLC, Apex Parks Group, LLC, and now is owned an ...

* Hoosier Hurricane at

* Hurricane: Category 5 at Myrtle Beach Pavilion * Mega Zeph at

Six Flags New Orleans Six Flags New Orleans was a Amusement park, theme park located near the intersection of Interstate 10 in Louisiana, Interstate 10 and Interstate 510 in New Orleans. It first opened as Jazzland in 2000, and a leasing agreement was established wit ...

Predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

at Six Flags Darien Lake * Psyclone at

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newha ...

* Woodland Run at Kentucky Kingdom * Timber Terror at

* Tremors at

- 208 ReTrak * Twister II at Elitch Gardens Theme Park * Hurler at

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park in Doswell, Virginia, United States, north of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, featuring over 60 rid ...

* Blazing Fury at

Dollywood Dollywood is a theme park that is jointly owned by Herschend Family Entertainment and country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton through her entertainment company, Dolly Parton Productions. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pig ...

* Hell Cat at Clementon Park - 208 ReTrak Source:

Miscellaneous

* Boulder Beach – water park * Great Escape –

Skycoaster Skycoaster is the name of a free-fall and flight-simulating amusement park attraction produced and managed by Skycoaster Company, LLC.. On the Skycoaster, riders in groups of 1 to 3 are harnessed in specialized Flight Suits (in a face-down, p ...

installation * Six Flags America –

installation *

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (formerly known as Six Flags Marine World, Marine World, The New Marine World Theme Park, and Marine World Africa USA) is a 135-acre (55 ha) animal theme park located in Vallejo, California, off of Interstate 80 i ...

–

installation * S&S Free Spin 4D clones - Construction of the track using the I-Box Large Version * Kentucky Kingdom –

installation * Stoneridge Resort – miniature golf course * Triple Play Indoor Water Park – water park *

Utah Olympic Park The Utah Olympic Park is a winter sports park built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and is located in Summit County, Utah, Summit County ( east of Salt Lake City) northwest of Park City, Utah, Park City, Utah, United States. During the 2002 games ...

– Xtreme ZipRiders * Wild Water West – water park, go kart track and miniature golf course Source:

References

External links

* {{Roller coaster manufacturers Companies based in Idaho Companies established in 2001 Roller coaster manufacturers 2001 establishments in Idaho Roller coaster designers