Shivering Timbers is a

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also be ...

located at

Michigan's Adventure Michigan's Adventure is a amusement park in Muskegon County, Michigan, about halfway between Muskegon and Whitehall. It is the largest amusement park in the state and has been owned and operated by Six Flags since 2024. The park was previo ...

Muskegon County, Michigan Muskegon County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the population was 175,824. The county seat is Muskegon. Muskegon County comprises the Muskegon, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Grand ...

. It was developed and built by

Custom Coasters International Custom Coasters International (CCI) was one of the premier wooden roller coaster manufacturers in the world and produced 34 wooden coasters in eleven years — more than any other company in recent times. It was located in West Chester, Ohio. Hi ...

. Opened in May 1998, Shivering Timbers debuted for the park's 32nd year in operation and was a success. Construction for the ride began in 1997. The trains were made by

Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry B. Auchy and Chester Albright under the name Philadelph ...

. The ride's out and back layout is long, making it the fourth-longest wooden roller coaster in the world. The ride has been re-tracked by

Martin & Vleminckx Martin & Vleminckx Ltd. (doing business as MV Rides) is a thrill ride and roller coaster manufacturing and construction company headquartered in Montreal, Québec, Canada with an affiliated office in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a manufa ...

and

Great Coasters International Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCI or GCII) is a Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based roller coaster manufacturer which has created several award-winning rides since its formation in 1994. Starting in 2006 with Thunderbird (PowerPark), Thunderbird at ...

. Shivering Timbers is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Ride experience

The ride starts with a left turn out of the station and onto the lift hill. At the base of the first drop, the train reaches its maximum speed of . Following the lift hill are two camelback hills. In both, riders experience "ejector

air-time In the context of amusement rides, air time, or airtime, refers to the time during which riders of a rollercoaster or other ride experience either frictionless or G-force, negative G-forces. The negative g-forces that a rider experiences is what ...

". The train then jumps a bunny hop and another camelback hill and a double uphill, before turning around for the second half of its course. After the turnaround, the train hits another bunny hop and another double uphill. After the double uphill, there is a series of six bunny hop hills. After the last hill, there is an on-ride photo camera and the ride's finale, a 630-degree counterclockwise helix, in which riders experience lateral

g-force The g-force or gravitational force equivalent is a Specific force, mass-specific force (force per unit mass), expressed in Unit of measurement, units of standard gravity (symbol ''g'' or ''g''0, not to be confused with "g", the symbol for ...

. After the helix, the train slides onto the final

brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track that utilizes some form of brakes to slow or stop a roller coaster train. There are various types of braking methods employed on roller coasters, including friction brakes, skid brakes, a ...

and executes a U-turn back into the station.

Incidents

On June 19, 2021, a train with guests was stopped by the ride's computer on the final emergency brakes set on the brake run after slipping past the first set due to persistent rain. Maintenance arrived shortly on the scene and deactivated the E-Stop. This caused the block brake to disengage. The train collided with the empty train in the station. The collision was not at high speed, and none of the guests were affected by the event. The ride was closed afterward for two weeks to repair and reinforce the damaged track caused by the collision. The ride was later reopened on July 3, 2021, with only one train in operation. For the 2022 season it was announced that single train service would remain in effect.

Rankings

Shivering Timbers has been consistently ranked as being among the best wooden roller coasters in the

Golden Ticket Awards ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, List of amusement rides, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspape ...

, having always been ranked in the top 25.

References

External links

Official page
Out and back roller coasters Roller coasters in Michigan Roller coasters introduced in 1998 Michigan's Adventure Roller coasters operated by Six Flags {{amusement-ride-stub