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Elitch Gardens shut down its Tower of Doom ride Friday after an accident on a similar “freefall tower” at a Kentucky amusement park resulted in a 13-year-old girl having both of her feet lopped off by a loose cable
The company that designed both of the towers is Intamin AG, a Swiss monorail manufacturer that’s also behind some of the world’s most expensive and insane amusement park rides, including Top Thrill Dragster, a 420-foot-tall, 120-mph “strata-coaster” in Ohio. Installing these mega-features is a means for theme parks to keep the crowds coming through the gates every season.
Elitch Gardens’ other Intamin-designed ride is Half Pipe, a snowboard-themed experience known for making passengers feel gnarly and pukey. Check out Westword’s 2004 article on how the Half Pipe came to be a way for Denverites to shred without their feet touching snow (or, hopefully, flying cables). – Jared Jacang Maher
