I joined the European Coaster Club last year with the intent of joining them on their arranged trips. Unfortunately I joined a bit too late in the year in order to be able to properly plan my vacation around the trip, so I had to sit it out. In the meantime, I would watch POV videos of coasters from around the world. Iron Gwazi by RMC was one that stood out and I felt super keen on riding a hybrid coaster like that.

What I did not know until just a few months ago was that Sweden already has a RMC at Kolmården, Wildfire:

While the summer is still going around here I figured I would make a day trip to go try it out. This meant getting up at an unholy hour in the morning in order to catch the express bus to Norrköping. My itinerary started with taking the tram from home at 0530 and finally arriving at the park by bus at 1130, all the time wanting to find out if it would be worth it.

My first ride was towards the back of the train and I’m glad it turned out that way. The first drop made me think of riding Balder at Liseberg, the way that it just keeps getting steeper and steeper as you go and adding the back-of-the-train dynamics to it made it all even better. It is intense from start to finish with rapid transitions from being upright to upside down or banked completely sideways outwards in a zero-G stall. The big, high-altitude sections give way to undulating tracks that follow the terrain in a beautiful way. I thought the ride was coming to an end as we were nearing the station, but then the track turned away to offer even more, including a really smooth roll before it turned back around to snake its way along the ground back to the brake run.

One thing that stood out to me after having ridden it a couple of times was that I could not really recall the track layout. It is just so long and complex, the way parts of it are hidden out of view by the terrain, the way it loops multiple times back and forth in the area in front of the cliffs. It really rewards you for riding multiple times. I recommend also comparing the right and left seats as the difference can really be felt in the heartline rolls. My favorite was riding left so you get that sensation of being pulled downwards in the final heartline roll.

The views of the surroundings are great and it feels like the 270 degree turn at the top of the lift hill is a statement that they really want to show this fact off.

Queues were very short the entire time I was there, despite them only operating one of the two trains that day. It felt a bit that loading and unloading operations were a bit awkward because the operators needed to do two passes to check the restraints - first ensure that the belt is clipped, then ask the riders to pull the lap bar down and do a pull-check on it. During unloading, people would get stuck because they did not get that you need to push back the lap bar yourself once it unlocks.

I can’t think of any better warning to always put your phone in a sealed pocket or in the loose item boxes.

Riding single is also a bit awkward as they release just enough people past the turnstile to fill the train so if you are last in the cohort you don’t get to choose where to sit. I was a bit miffed when I was let in as one of the first ones and got to pick a seat in the last car, only to be asked to move to a seat in the middle because there was a group of 3 who chose that car. I stealthily went back to my initial choice after seeing that it once again had a single rider waiting on it.

All in all, this is a great coaster and narrowly pushes down Helix from being my personal #1 coaster. There are some things that I wish could be better:

• The backrests wrap around you so you sit snug and secure even with only the lap bar. However, they are not padded and as a result my elbows are swollen and bruised.
• Watching it off-ride is kind of disappointing. The entire thing seems really hidden away with no way to get close to the different sections to watch it go. The big set-pieces like the hill with the outward banked turn are far away from any path accessible to the public. If you want any comprehensive off-ride footage you would probably need a camera drone.
• While it is smooth for a wooden rollercoaster going 115 km/h, it is still a rough experience at times.

So, was it worth the effort? If you had asked me as I was leaving the park then ‘Definitely Yes’. If you had asked me after arriving home, with a really uncomfortable and unpleasant 4,5 hours bus ride fresh in my memory then I’d still say ‘Yes’. I am not keen on doing it again though. If I combine it with a hotel stay and onward journey to Gröna Lund not too far away from there it could be a pretty nice weekend trip.

Bonus reviews: two kiddie coasters

I also claimed two ride credits on the two kiddie coasters that Kolmården has, both of which I tried to ride with as much dignity as one can as a lone adult man.

Godiståget

Riding in the back produces a surprising morsel of airtime as you go over the first hill. Weaves nicely between the trees.

Delfinexpressen

Surprisingly rough for what it is. Had to contort my legs to get the lap bar past my knees.

Now to figure out what my next trip will be.

Also, check out this video where the camera mount for the POV failed, producing a video that really nicely shows off the terrain and environment in which the coaster is built. Pretty interesting!

rykarn