Ellicottville, NY – The Grand Opening celebration of the Mountain Coaster at the Sky High Adventure Park at Holiday Valley ski area in western New York State will be held on Saturday, August 20 at 10 a.m.

The Mountain Coaster is located in the Tannenbaum area of the resort and is next to the Aerial Adventure Park that opened earlier this summer. According to Holiday Valley’s President Dennis Eshbaugh, “The addition of the Mountain Coaster is an important piece of the whole resort that attracts visitors to Holiday Valley and the region on a year ‘round basis.”

The Mountain Coaster is similar to a roller coaster with cars that ride upon a track. One or two riders load a car and travel 1,865 feet up the hill parallel to the Spruce Lake lift. At the apex the car begins its 2,490-foot descent, zigzagging and spiraling down through the woods. There are 15 curves, 12 waves, 2 jumps and a giant spiral along the length of the ride.  The average grade is 15.2% with a maximum of 23.6%. Riders can accelerate or decelerate using handles on the sides of the car.

The coaster was designed, engineered and manufactured by Weigand of Germany and was shipped to the resort in seven containers, each containing thousands of individual parts much like a giant Erector Set. Construction of the coaster was an intense 10-week process, as all of the parts and measurements were metric and the plans were written in German. The crew was led by two representatives of Weigand with the Holiday Valley Mountain Crew and nince additional part-time workers who assembled and welded all of the pieces and then placed them in their exact location according to the plans. Several local contractors supplied concrete work, welding, carpentry work, logging, paving, stone masonry and wiring.

The Mountain Coaster will operate daily through September 5 and then weekends through at least October 9. The coaster will also operate during the winter season. The cost of a single ride is $6 during the summer season.