Update: The ride has closed again.
This is an exciting piece of news! After years of delay, the unique “Cliffhanger” rollercoaster, formerly known as the Red Devil, at Ghost Town in the Sky in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, has reopened! Dubbed on the Ghost Town in Sky website as the “world’s most unsual coaster”, I think I have to agree with them!
The ride begins with a 90 degree turn out of the station, right into a drop that leaves riders speeding at 50 mph. The train then maneuvers through a double-helix element before coming to the lifthill… which is at the end of the ride. Basically everything on the ride is backwards…. and on the edge of a mountain.
To see a video of the ride, click here.
According to their website Cliffhanger is running now with all new cars, – no over the shoulder restraints. I hope to get up there this weekend. Will update if I do.
My husband and I rode cliffhanger 2 nights ago. I can say I was literally scared for my life. For us, it was 8pm, foggy, heavy mist, so my fear of something going wrong was of course intensified. I haven’t been that scared on a roller coaster–EVER. I have ridden quite a few and just the fear factor of the cliff took this up a notch that I’ve never known. When you begin the ride it’s a sudden drop straight down which I can say took my breath away. The loop was pretty standard but my knowing the turn was coming up (over the cliff) made my hands hurt holding on, as if that would help :).
I would recommend it for those wanting a seriously good scare. I am scared of heights but not on roller coasters. When you know this structure is sitting there on the side of this cliff—the thrill is unmeasurable. You have a belt and lap bar which leaves you feeling completely vulnerable. My husband’s knees were even shaking trying to walk down to meet our friends (who we could not talk into riding) and his voice was strained the next day. When the ride was over, the ride operator said “you guys want to go again, ok”…I began screaming no. I wasn’t so sure I could handle round two. Have fun.