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Making The First Roller Coasters - Russian Ice Slides, Catherine the Great Drawing of a typical Russian Ice Slide Who invented the first roller coaster? Historians all agree that the imagination and craftsmanship of the engineers of the Russian Ice slides sparked the invention of the modern roller coaster giants showcased in amusements parks worldwide. Taking advantage of the long Russian winters and the daredevil nature of the Russian people, organizers of 17th century Russian winter festivals profited by building tall wooden ice glazed structures, nicknamed "The Russian Mountains" and sold thrilling slick rides to their eager patrons. How Were The Russian Ice Slides Made : The innovators of this 17th century thrill ride constructed very tall wooden toboggan tracks that commonly towered over crowds at 70 feet in height or approximately five stories. Creating a slick use of gravity, the steep slides were coated with a sheet of ice, several inches thick. While gliding down a slippery chute at a 50 degree angle, the sleighs accellerated to formidablly high speeds. Creating even more of a potential for disaster, some tracks were designed with small bumps at the end of the icy chutes. Administering a crude sense of security, ice slide operators used friction by spreading straw across the ends of the steep ramps in an effort to help stop the uncontrollable sleds when the rides ended. Swarms of paying customers rode down the Russian ice slides in sleighs crafted from thick blocks of ice. Riders sat in a crudely made seat carved into the block of ice. A sprinkling of straw provided the only source of comfort for riders crammed into the cold wet sleighs. Riders supported themselves by grasping to a rope threaded through a hole drilled into the icy sleigh. Great skill was required to safely ride the slides, so instructors charged a fee for teaching beginnings how to navigate the thrill ride. Catherine the Great's Role In Making the Russian Ice Slides : The Russian people looked forward to the opening of the Russian slides every year, especially Catherine the Great, the empress of Russia. Catherine the Great took power of Russian in 1762 after her husband, Peter III's own people forced him to abdicate from his royal position. Catherine loved the Russian slides so much that she wanted to enjoy them throughout the entire year. The thrill seeking Russian empress supposedly commissioned to have a dry version of the Russian ice slides built near her palace in St. Petersburg. This was one of the first instances of a dry wooden track carrying a wheeled carriage instead of an ice block posing as a sleigh. How Roller Coasters Came to America : During the Napoleonic wars, French entrepreneurs learned about the Russian ice slides and brought the dry roller coaster track concept to their home country. The French version was appropriately named, the Russian Mountains. In the 1800s, businessmen made in roller coaster famous in the United States with the introduction of the roller coaster at Coney Island. Coney Island was an idea by trolley car companies wishing to raise the level of traffic on weekends by giving people a reason to travel. More Crafty Topics Art of Love Art of Chess NYBG Holiday Train Show Is the Art of Crafting Lost? Jackie Bouvier: Her Artistic Side Easter Egg Art Easter Egg Art Bamboo : Environmental Art NYC Holiday Train Show George Seurat Turtle Art Russian Ice Slides Irish Royal Claddagh Books Interesting Facts and Trivia About Roller Coasters 1. The world's longest running roller coaster still in operation is Leap-the-Dips in Lakemont Park, Pennsylvania. The ride first opened in 1902. 2. Riders experience a weightless sensation on roll coasters because of the parabolic curve of the ride's hills. Galileo discovered this mathematical shape in the 16th century. 3. More common items found under roller coasters include wallets, change, and keys, but people have also found glass eyes, fake legs, brassieres and false teeth. 4. In 1829, the first roller coaster offered in the United States started as a coal train, called the Maunch Chunk Swithback Railway, located near Maunch Chunk, Pennyslivania. Then in 1872, the railway split its time between carrying coal in the morning hours and human passengers in the afternoons. 5. Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California and Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston, Texas each have the most roller coasters with a count of ten roller coasters in 2007. Crafts related to Roller Coasters Marble Run Craft The most basic roller coaster design How to Make a Marble Run Are you interested in building an easy to make roller coaster. All roller coasters are essentially marble runs that are thin tracks that carry a projectile using forces such as gravity. Learn how to make a marble run Roller Coasters Word Find Have fun finding the names of famous United States roller coasters in our US Famous Roller Coaster Names Word Find Roller coasters are included from various United States amusement parks such as : Cedar Point Busch Gardens Williamsburg Disneyland Links to other Roller Coasters sites 1. Build your own roller coaster - Try your hand at designing your own roller coaster. You will be building a conceptual coaster using the physics concepts that are used to design real coasters. You won't need to compute any formulas. 2. Roller Coaster World - the main source for roller coaster photos, information, and up-to-date industry news!

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