Coaster’s roots began in Cohoes
Downhill ride with an Olympic pedigree is a thrill at sports center outside Lake Placid
Cohoes By all measures the new Cliffside Coaster mountain roller coaster near Lake Placid has been a success.
The coaster has drawn crowds since it opened in October. It’s open Fridays through Sundays. But get your tickets in advance online — this weekend it’s booked and the soonest reservations are two weeks out.
“The mountain coaster is selling extremely well,” said
Elise Ruocco, a spokeswoman for the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates the ride at its Mt. Van Hoevenberg winter sports athletic center outside Lake Placid.
“It’s really at full capacity,” said James Mckenna, CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism. “It’s been a tremendous success. I’ve only heard positives.”
Located at the complex where athletes train for the bobsled, luge and skeleton, the Cliffside Coaster follows the route of Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s 1932 and 1980 Olympic bobsled track.
At 7,600 feet in length, the $55 ride ($10 for children ages 3-12) is touted as the nation’s longest mountain coaster. Participants are towed 2,400 feet to the top and they roll down along a 5,200-foot route at speeds hitting 25 mph. Riders also hear
a narrative about the bobsled track’s history from an onboard audio system.
Mountain coasters are a relatively new variant of the older
alpine slide rides at many ski resorts. The slides allow riders to follow a concrete, groundlevel path down a winding route.
Because they are elevated a few feet above ground and run on rails like a roller coaster, mountain coasters can operate year-round. And their speed exceeds the pace of alpine slides.
While the story of the Cliffside Coaster received widespread attention, people may not know it was designed and fabricated by a Cohoes firm that is also a global leader in the construction of water-park attractions and wave pools.
“We’re this little hidden gem here in Cohoes,” said Ken Ellis, CEO of Aquatic Development Group.
Aquatic Development Group’s roots are in the pool business. Company founder Herb Ellis — Ken Ellis’ father — started by selling pools in the 1950s and rose to run the company that in the 1970s became ADG.
They eventually went from pools to water parks, as well as mountain rides and alpine slides.
The company also developed a wave simulator that they say is now used in more than 90 percent of such systems in the U.S.
Their man-made, wave-production technology powers lazy river rides as well as surfing rides and other water features across the U.S., including Six Flags parks and the Columbus Zoo.
They’ve built water parks at ski resorts including Mountain Creek, N.J., Silver Mountain, Idaho, Jay Peak, Vt., Camelback Mountain Resorts in Pennsylvania's Poconos and Massanutten, Va.
They also designed and built the indoor water parks at Great Escape in Lake George and at the Kartrite Resort next to the Resorts World Casino in the Catskills.
Additionally, ADG has also put in the alpine slides at Bromley and
Jiminy Peak ski resorts, in Vermont and Massachusetts, respectively.
One of their devices was used to simulate Pacific Ocean waves in the filming of Ang Lee’s hit 2012 move, “Life of Pi.”
The Cliffside Coaster was designed with an eye — as well as an ear — for history.
The ride's soundtrack notes the track's famous turns such as Big Shady and Zig Zag as the sled moves along, ADG spokeswoman Jessica Mahoney said.
“They were trying to create the Olympic feeling,” she said.
And the narrator may sound familiar: It’s Saranac Lake native and bobsledder-turned-winter-sports commentator John Morgan who appeared in "Cool Runnings," the 1993 hit movie about the Jamaican bobsled team.
It’s clear that the Cliffside Coaster is unique in the area, but will it remain popular and become a stalwart attraction for an area steeped in Winter Olympics attractions that already include the skating rink, ski jump and slopes at Whiteface?
Probably, say observers.
But they also note that the attraction made its debut at an unusual time, opening as the COVID-19 pandemic sent people flocking to the Adirondacks and other nearby vacation spots instead of distant destinations like Florida's Disney World, Europe or other locations.
Ellis says that’s part of a pandemic trend in which people are visiting “drive-to” vacation spots or attractions.
Water parks that stayed open during the pandemic did well, he said.
The local travel trend may continue through the winter as skiers, facing an uncertain season, opt to stay close to home rather than book trips to the Rocky Mountains or the Alps.
“This could be a change in travel patterns for a number of years,” said Mckenna.
The coaster may be opening at just the right time.