Sierra Sidewinder is a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

located in the Camp Snoopy section of

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a amusement park in Buena Park, California, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. In March 2015, it was ranked as the List of amusement park rankings#North America, twelfth-most-visited theme park in North Ameri ...

. It was the first spinning roller coaster in the United States to feature trains with multiple spinning cars, rather than an individual spinning car, like those found on a Reverchon or

Zamperla Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. is an Italian design and manufacturing company founded in 1966. It is best known for creating family rides, thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The company also makes smaller coin-operated rides commonly found in ...

Twister Coaster. The ride was also one of the first roller coasters to feature on-ride video recordings, as opposed to the traditional still on-ride photograph.

History

At the ACE Halloween Haunt event for the Southern California Region of

American Coaster Enthusiasts American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) is a non-profit organization focusing on the enjoyment, knowledge, and preservation of roller coasters as well as recognition of some as architectural and engineering landmarks. Dues-paying members receive th ...

in 2006, Jack Falfas, COO of

Cedar Fair Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, or simply Cedar Fair, was an American company headquartered at its flagship Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. The company was a publicly traded master limited partnership that origina ...

, hinted at something different in the coming year. Construction began shortly after the announcement with the removal of the Paddlewheel Boat Ride and relocation of Woodstock's Air Mail. On November 29, 2006, Knott's Berry Farm announced that they would be adding Sierra Sidewinder. It would be located right next to the entrance of

Camp Snoopy Camp Snoopy is a ''Peanuts''-themed area for children at several Six Flags amusement parks. All of them originally opened while the parks were under the ownership of Cedar Fair prior to its merger with Six Flags in 2024. History Camp Snoopy wa ...

. The ride would be the park's eighth roller coaster. Sierra Sidewinder officially opened on May 26, 2007.

Trains

Sierra Sidewinder features two trains with four cars with two rows each, seating two per row back-to-back. Each car is locked in position in the station for stability during loading and unloading. Once the train leaves the station the cars spin freely on their own axis. After the train returns to the station, the cars are rotated back to the home position and the rotation is locked. The coaster is the first free-spinning model from

Mack Rides Mack Rides GmbH & Co KG, also known simply as Mack Rides, is a German company that designs and constructs amusement rides, based in Waldkirch, Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Ge ...

Waldkirch Waldkirch () is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located 15 kilometers northeast of Freiburg im Breisgau. While the English translation of its name is ''Forest Church'', it is known as the "town of mechanical organs", where fairground org ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Mack had previously built the spinning coaster,

Euro-Mir Euro-Mir is a space-themed spinning roller coaster located at Europa-Park in Rust, Germany, Rust, Germany. Unlike most spinning coasters, however, the cars do not spin freely, but are rotated by motors at set points during the ride. It was desig ...

, at its home park in Rust, Germany, but the car's rotation on that ride is controlled by a motor. The rotation is also locked during certain portions of the ride. The Sierra Sidewinder ride structure and transfer track are unusual because the train storage is beneath the ride as opposed to being next to the ride. The on-ride video recording that was present on the trains when the ride opened was removed as of the 2011 season. Small holes on the fronts and rears of each car indicate where the video cameras were mounted.

References

External links

Official ''Sierra Sidewinder'' page
Roller coasters introduced in 2007 Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Roller coasters in California {{amusement-ride-stub