February 2021 Big Bear Today Magazine

Page 12—February 2021
Sled, snow, coaster at Alpine Slide
Choose from two unique
rides,longtime favorite Alpine
Slide and new Mineshaft Coaster,
neither found elsewhere in California, both
letting riders control their own speed.
Really it’s three interactive rides
counting family inner tubing on Alpine
Slide’s snow play hill; how you slide, when
you slide, with whom you slide all
determine how fast tubers go. Toss in the
Putt `N Around go-kart track and there’s
four attractions at Alpine Slide that allow
families to go as fast or slow as they want.
Mineshaft Coaster at Alpine Slide, a
mile-long stainless steel track on which
riders negotiate turns and drops aboard
karts they control, opened last summer, first
ride of its kind in the state. Two up tracks
on a motorized bullwheel pulley system
provide the uphill lift, including a long one
out of a cool new start house at the bottom.
The real fun is on two downhill tracks,
Soaring
Eagle
as carts hit speeds up to 27 mph across
three 200-foot bridges, into two 100-foot
tunnels, through S-turns, over a few
whoop-di-doos, and around three 360°
corkscrew turns. The whole ride is elevated
above the ground, at times two dozen feet
up and at a minimum four feet, really
giving riders a sense of speed as
surroundings blur by.
It’s a roughly nine minute ride—faster
drivers can get closer to seven minutes—
that elicits amusement park-style screams
from many riders, only this is no park ride
where there’s no guest interaction. On
Mineshaft Coaster guests go faster or
slower by applying brake. Rider in back
controls the cart’s braking mechanism and
is required to keep at least 80 feet from the
sled in front.
Mineshaft Coaster features “Smart
Cart” technology with a computer
controlled, fail-safe magnetic braking
system that gently applies brakes if a cart
approaches too close to another. Plus each
ride is equipped with speed governor and
centrifugal brake to control top speed.
Each cart has specially designed,
lockable seat belts and shoulder restraints
to assure rider comfort at all times. Plus
carts have energy absorbing front and rear
buffers. Mineshaft Coaster is open daily
year-round and tickets are $20 per person,
children $10.
Alpine Slide bobsleds, only track west
of Utah, offer more self-controlled fun in
an experience that gives rides a small taste
You’re in control on the new Mineshaft Coaster at Alpine Slide
of Olympic bobsledding. Lean into banked
turns with the sled almost perpendicular
to the ground and whip out into a tuck
through straightaways to and experience
some of the same gravitational forces
found In Olympic sled events.
Apply brake to go as slow as you want
or let the sled’s teflon runners and ballbearing
wheels roll freely down the two
side-by-side quarter-mile cement tracks.
Banked turns, long straightaways and more
await riders and every time down is
different. Bobsled rides cost $7 each, $30
for five-ride book.
Alpine Slide’s Snow Play Area is
going off after the January storms. There
was tons of snow before the weather
arrived, thank’s to the area’s ski resort
quality Lenko snowguns lining the slopes,
and now it’s piled two stories high. It’s
daunting to see all the white stuff piled up!
There will be inner tubing at Alpine Slide
through Easter at least.
The enclosed 210-foot long Magic
Carpet uphill lift has been busy, taking
guests and their tubes to the top of all the
snow—just step on and step off. Nightly
grooming like at the ski resorts ensures
smooth tubing on perfect corduroy snow.
Night Tubing under the stars was
introduced at Alpine Slide years ago and
has become wildly popular. Guests love
sliding on snow that gets another fresh
groom after the day session. There’s new
glow lighting and the snow gets faster and
Big Bear Today
faster as the evening progresses.
Tube daily from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. with
evening sessions Fridays, Saturdays and
holiday periods including February 14, a
great chance to take your sweetie tubing
on Valentine’s Day. Lift passes for all
sessions are $35 and include inner tube
rental.
Soaring Eagle is a zipline-like
experience with a couple notable
differences. Riders sit instead of lie down
and ride up to the top tower backwards.
Plus guests don’t have to apply any brake
or use any skill set, since it’s an amusement
park ride rather than zipline, so they’re just
along for the ride.
What a ride it is! Between the two
towers riders soar 500 feet—close to two
football fields!—and reach speeds up to
26 mph, with a vertical drop of about 125
feet. It’s the first ride of its kind in
California with the nearest other one atop
the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. There’s no
bulky shoulder harness to wear so guests
feel, well, as free as birds while they fly.
Double seat belts secure up to two
riders and they shoot to the top tower
facing the ground, almost as fast as when
they’re coming down, an experience that’s
as exhilarating as the descent. Soaring
Eagle costs $12 per rider.
Bundle Soaring Eagle flight, go-karts
and miniature golf for $22, a steal of a deal.
Alpine Slide is at 800 Wildrose Ln.
Call (909) 866-4626.
Even non-Olympians enjoy bobsled-like rides at Alpine Slide