Hershey, Pennsylvania – Thursday, July 19th, 2012
So with a short queue and this being my #1 reason for even going to Hersheypark this year, I still managed to rack up ten laps throughout the day, and quickly found a riding position with my arm used as a lapbar brace that could make for tolerable rides. Not, however, ideal.
View of the rear of the Skyrush sign, visible from all the queue.
Skyrush's unique lift support structure, made from triple stacked i-beams.
Skyrush towers above the park.
Skyrush's yellow track and sky blue supports simultaneously attract and camouflage the twisted steel structure.
Skyrush's 85 degree drop was fairly strong in the back, although the parabolic shape feels much the same as many other steel first drops.
Installation of Skyrush's cable lift mechanisms must have been a planning nightmare situated this closely to The Comet.
Also, I'll admit, despite being officially listed as 85 degrees, it didn't quite feel it or look it. If that support column is vertical, I'd think that the track would be closer to parallel at it's steepest point. I don't have a protractor handy to figure out if that's really what five degrees looks like, though.
Still, I love the negative space defined by this unique lift structure.
Skyrush bottoms out at 75 mph.
This is the moment that distinguishes a good ride from a painful one. If I could keep the restraint from pinning me down here, I could have a relatively enjoyable ride... provided I was also able to keep it from pinning me down on every subsequent dip on the layout.
Skyrush is different from most hypercoasters in that after the first steep drop, the hills and curves are relatively shallow and not very tall.
The result is that Skyrush has relatively narrow dyanmic speed range between slow and fast (almost all fast) with none of the "undulating" rhythm between valleys and peaks that typify most modern steel coasters.
Whether it's barreling around a high banked turn or cresting one of the airtime hills, it always does so with a breakneck speed that seems slightly faster than is safe. Especially when there's a hard foam restraint digging into your femur.
Skyrush ironically has a very low to the ground layout.
Pulling out of the far turn...
...Into another airtime hill.
It then makes another rising turn...
Launching into the overbanked Stengel dive, possibly Skyrush's most dynamic element and what I'd consider the midpoint of the ride layout.
The force is strong with this element.
After the Stengel dive, Skyrush changes tempo slightly, focusing on a faster back-and-forth S-curving rhythm with more quick direction changes and less sustained force. It's a simple but effective strategy to keep interest sustained throughout the ride layout.
Skyrush going "WHOOOOSH!"
And then it launches back up and away through a super aggressive bunny hop.
Skyrush makes one of its final turns as it heads back over the Comet.
Skyrush through the... pergola?
After (somewhat awkwardly) crossing back over the classic Comet, Skyrush returns to the station...
I really like this writeup for Hershey… Had the opportunity to visit two years ago and found it to be a really enjoyable park, and Lightning Racer turned out to be a family favorite.
However, the reason why I’m commenting here is not because of Hesheypark, its because your main post on the main page offers no place to respond hahaha. A couple of thoughts here. Glad to hear that you totally haven’t abandoned the site, as I find it fascinating. If I could put in my 2 cents, I’d greatly enjoy writeups for Maverick and Magnum XL-200.
When I visited Cedar Point last year (my second trip), obviously Maverick was on of my favorites, and most roller coaster enthusiasts agree. And the ride holds consistently to your concepts of roller coaster “story progression” in intensity. However, from my previous visit I wanted to avoid Magnum because I remembered it being very painful. My friend dragged me on it and after a couple laps I found that it wasn’t as painful as I imagined, but nonetheless it was still fairly lackluster for me. Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Also, as kind of a tandem, I think it would be unique if you did a writeup for Rocky Mountain Constuction as a company. They, all by themselves, I think have changed the roller coaster industry more than any other company in a very long time. I know you appreciate Alan Shilke’s designs (X2 is just awesome), and it’s clear to me that he cares more than most about element pacing, progression, and finales (the double barrel-roll on Outlaw Run, the mini airtime hops on Wicked Cyclone, and the twisty switchback section on Wildfire, just to name a few stand-out finales). I’m not sure of how many RMC coasters you’ve ridden, but if its more than a few, I’d be interested in hearing what you have to say about them.
Anyways, sorry that was kinda long-winded, I’ve been meaning to comment for a while now. Keep it up and I’ll look forward to hearing from you!
As per JetstreamCoasters, commenting here because I can’t comment elsewhere.
Just wanted to say thank you for your years of intelligent commentary on rides & parks. Your words became a bit of a narrative to my first experiences of parks all over the world after I conquered my fear of coasters back in 2011 at the not-so-tender age of 36! The next three years were spent in whatever parks I could find on RCDB and reading your commentary for your unique insight prior to my visits.
Oh, and thanks to your site, I can no longer ride the Universal Studio’s Rip Ride Rocket without activating the secret track #112 – Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Freebird – this must be the best coaster soundtrack ever!
Like you, life has since moved on. I have a 2 year old boy now, and visits to parks are few and far between. But I’m encouraging him to eat all his food so he can grow to reach the magic 0.9 & 1.4m heights so I can go venturing the world of coasters with him too. And whatever you decide to do with this site, I look forward to seeing more of your writing, in whatever form into the future.
PS. I rode Sky Rush (also known non-affectionally as ‘Thigh Crush’) back in 2013. I rate it as one of the most terrifying coasters I’ve ever been on, mainly because if those damn restraints break my femurs, I’m toast! Did you notice the ever-so-slight release of the restraints on the holding brake at the end? So Intamin/Hershey know about the problem then!
Thanks for the kind words, Ty. As I said in my last update (already more than half a year ago) there will be more updates coming, and hopefully one fairly soon which I’ve made some progress on recently.
It makes me realize just how long I’ve been putting this on hold; 2011 was when things first started slowing down for me, and in that time you’ve had your entire coaster riding career begin and end! (But hopefully will begin again soon!) Time really does get away from us…