Balder – wooden coaster – Liseberg park – Sweden

Description

Complete timber works were performed by Cordes Holzbau again as in Heide Park Soltau in cooperation with Wish Wood construction (rails) and Intamin / Switzerland (driving skills). This track, too, is designed and calculated by Stengel (Munich). At the end of 2002, our work has been completed. The opening took place on time for the start of the season 2003. Balder has transported more than 1.1 million passengers in the first season, according to information from Liseberg Park.

Balder undoubtedly meets the taste of European audiences, no surprise, because the same technologically advanced developments have been used as at Colossos in Heide Park Soltau. Though, the layout is completely different compared to the “Colossus of Soltau”. As Liseberg is very short of room, the wooden structure had to be placed on the area of the former administration site. Balder just takes the area of a football field, nevertheless 1,070 meters of rail can be offered. Tight corners and small hills, promising much airtime, characterize the Scandinavian “giant”. It goes up 36 meters, then a 70° steep descent and a classic twisted layout, which offers two four-loops in the main part, which run in two levels directly above the other. The rolling stock was taken of Colossos, as many other technical components: Two trains with five cars each convey in 128 seconds the passenger more than ten times the feeling of weightlessness. At the time of the construction Scandinavia’s longest and tallest wooden roller coaster has pointed a new world record: With a descent of 70° inclination Balder was the steepest wooden roller coaster and was only superseded by El Toro in 2006.

In 2005 (as well as in 2003) Balder was elected the world’s best wooden roller coaster in the annual vote “Internet Wooden Tracked Roller Coaster Poll”: