Rocky Mountain Construction is a designer and manufacturer of Roller Coasters. Their founding was in 2001 and since then they have taken the roller coaster world by storm. Known for their remaking of old wooden coasters into Steel masterpieces. That may be changing some lately since it is their ground-up coasters they are putting out every year that has been getting them attention.
Rocky Mountain Construction History.
Fred Grubb and Suanne Dedmon began Rocky Mountain Construction in 2001 but it would be a decade before opening their first roller coaster. Early on they would do any work they could to keep the doors open. Helping with water parks and Go Cart tracks among other projects. It was in 2009 when Alan Schilke began working with them when the big transformation began.
Rocky Mountain Construction innovates.
Fred and Alan worked together designing the I-Box track. This would be a new concept to completely re-envision a refurbishment on an existing wooden roller coaster. This would allow them to remake a coaster instead of just merely repairing it. The first coaster to receive the new I-Box track was at Silverwood Theme Park on Tremors. The big break would come when Six Flags over Texas was looking for some help with their again wooden coaster Texas Giant.
Rocky Mountain Construction and New Texas Giant
RMC convinced Six Flags Over Texas to give them their first shot with Texas Giant. They would revamp it with their new I-Box track. The coaster was an instant hit when it debuted in 2011. Winner of the Golden Ticket award for the best new coaster when it premiered New Texas Giant was a smash hit! It continues to draw big crowds to this day.
Outlaw Run
Next up would be Outlaw Run. Silver Dollar City was looking for something big to add and they decided to give RMC a chance at their first original Coaster. Outlaw Run wouldn’t be a refurbishment of an old coaster. Instead, Fred and Alan were able to design this brand new coaster to fit into the hills of Branson Missouri. With just two coasters to their name, it was obvious that Rocky Mountain Construction was a major player now.
The Hits keep pilling up
After Outlaw Run they would put out the “must ride” ride every year. Like Goliath at Six Flags Great America in 2014 and Twisted Colussus for Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2015. However, it would be in 2016 when they would build one of the coasters that they are known for. Lightning Rod at Dollywood took the coaster community by storm in 2016. When approaching the lift hill all looks normal. Then it boosts you using LSM motors up the lift hill! Launching coasters wasn’t new but a launch up a lift hill is such a unique experience. From there the craziness continues while the ejector airtime piles up. Ending with another great Rocky Mountain Construction Finale in the quad down. While most coasters lose momentum throughout Lightning Rod keeps getting faster!
Steel Vengeance
Steel Vengeance at Cedar point is the crown jewel of their collection. Top speed of 74 MPH, 4 Inversions, and standing at 205 feet tall this is a behemoth. Cedar Point is one very busy park busting at the seem with coasters. Since it was introduced this has become their most popular Roller Coaster. Even the designer Alan Schilke himself agrees that it is RMC’s best roller coaster.
Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster
2018 was a great year for Rocky Mountain Construction. Not only did they open Steel Vengeance but they also opened Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Wonder Woman featured their brand new single rail concept called Raptor Track. This new design would allow the coasters to make tighter turns and move in ways impossible before. Even better for theme parks bottom lines is that they cost much less to build than other major coasters. They can have capacity problems but a high thrill coaster for a fraction of the price is a pretty good deal.
T-Rex track and the future
Rocky Mountain Construction shows no signs of slowing down. The recent success of the RMC Raptor models has a couple appearing every year. When one of their new model called the T-Rex track finally gets built there is no doubt that will be a huge hit. Take the concept of the Raptor and make it bigger. So instead of it being single row seating, it is big enough to accommodate two riders per row. Colin Coon an RMC spokesperson said in an interview that T-Rex track could be built even 500 feet tall! The future looks very promising for RMC. Whenever they open a new coaster it is always the talk of the community. There are no signs of that stopping.
Thanks For Reading
If you found this post informative or helpful would you please consider sharing it with your friends, family, fellow Coaster enthusiast? Also please leave any thoughts or comments on Rocky Mountain Construction in the comments below. Firstly you can visit their official site https://www.rockymtnconstruction.com/. Secondly you can reach out to us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/themeparkcoastercrazy/
Bolliger and Mabillard