Verbolten

Manufacturer

ZIERER

Model

Elevated Seating Coaster w/ Vertical Drop Element

Hamlet

Oktoberfest (Germany)

Official Opening

May 18, 2012

Soft Opening

May 11, 2012

Tallest Drop

88ft

Top Speed

53mph

Inversion Count

0

Launch Segments

2

Riders Per Train

16

Number of Trains

5

Height Requirement

48in

Verbolten is an indoor/outdoor ZIERER Elevated Seating Coaster that features a Vertical Drop Element. It officially opened in mid-May 2012 on the site formally occupied by the Arrow Suspended Coaster, Big Bad Wolf.

Videos​

Development Documentary​

• From Dreams to Screams: Verbolten by Devin Olson

Ride Recordings​

On-Ride Videos​

• Opening Year POV (Storm Sequence)
• Opening Year POV (Spirit Sequence)
• Opening Year POV (Wolves Sequence)
• Spring 2019 Lights-On POV
• 2012/2019 Side-by-Side POV

Backstage Footage​

• Verbolten Control Booth Screens

 

[Mushroom]

I find it difficult to believe that a difference of 8 mph (45 vs 53) is the difference between tolerable forces and, as MrLaptop claims, a "blackout machine". I have seen plans of the track layout, as well as pictures of the track inside the building and I don't believe that the helices are tight enough to cause blackouts at either 45 or 53 mph, nor do I believe that Zierer would engineer a ride, especially a family ride, with such narrow physical tolerances.

I don't think it's the speed itself that would cause blackouts, it's the layout of the track itself. I almost always gray out on the helix inside the event building, and very few rides make me lose vision. I'm not sure how much difference 8 miles per hour would make in terms of blacking out, but I'm sure it wouldn't help.

 

[David]

The lack of understanding into how forces work is starting to make my head hurt.

Guess that's ironic.

 

[Zimmy]

I am going to leave this right... HERE

So it turns out, gray outs are caused by hypoxia, and in the case of a rollercoaster that would typically be caused by excess g forces. (depending on the individual)

1 G is equal to 9.80665 metres per second squared. It is calculated as a function of Delta V. (change in velocity)

All this is to say, anywhere on a coaster when you have a positive Delta V you increase the G. So if we know that Gray outs are caused by significant (this is determined by individual not statistics) G then we can assume that at any point on a coaster where there is a positive Delta V there is potential for Gray outs.

Incidently real men don't have gray outs...

 

[MrLaptop]

I did mean force from the turn radius. I could be wrong, but I think about two thirds the event building width would be used for the first turn after the launch, and maybe not be a blackout machine, but on the hairy side.

I believe it hits 45 in the building and 55 outside.

In that case, it seems logical given the size of the building.

Now, I want to ask something. Was I offending people with that question? The conversation seemed to have heated up.

 

[David]

I mentioned this in the chat....

As you know, the ride starts outside then launches you into the event building. The building is completely dark once you initially enter, then soon after you are hit with strobes.

You know that feeling from being outside, then walking indoors...? Yours eyes take time to adjust. Vbolt puts your eyes and mind through a rather interesting clusterfuck of changes at a very rapid pace. While you might think it's a greyout, I think for some this is more due to your eyes trying to adjust, and not the forces the rides is putting on you.

 

[MAZ]

The app thing is funny to me since I have never used one in my life. I can do this on a piece of paper, with a pencil, a calculator, and my 24th edition Machinist Handbook though As David has mentioned in so many words, it's quite easy with the proper tooling. By the way, The helixes inside the building make me see stars so I guess that's a grey out maybe kinda sorta.

 

[pandorazboxx]

On I305 I almost pass out before that first hill. I don't ride that thing anymore.

 

[Jonquil]

I think we need to define what "greying out" and "blacking out" actually mean.

The forces experienced on a roller coaster are usually expressed in gees (I write the plural as "gees" instead of "gs", because pluralizing a single letter is confusing). In this case, "g" stands for gravitational, referring to the acceleration force experienced by an object or body on (or near) planet Earth. When riding a roller coaster or other ride, acceleration forces are magnified beyond "normal" gravitational acceleration, and your body, and all of the things inside of it, respond to these forces... most noticeably, your blood.

Positive g-forces, the sort experienced at the bottom of a drop or going around a helix at speed, magnify the effect of gravitational acceleration and make you feel like you're being pressed down. Positive gees actually force your blood from the upper parts of your body down towards your legs. One of the functions of blood is to deliver a steady supply of oxygen to your cells. When parts of the body experience reduced blood flow, cells (and therefore tissues and organs) are no longer getting an adequate supply of oxygen; this is called hypoxia. The retinas in your eyes are very, very sensitive to hypoxia, so visual changes are usually the first indication that the various tissues in your head are experiencing a loss of blood and, therefore, a loss of oxygen.

As retinal hypoxia begins, the first visual change is called greyout, which is usually perceived as the loss of color vision and the dimming of the visual field. The next visual change is called tunnel vision. Peripheral vision is lost; visual perception becomes limited to a central image surrounded by darkness, making it seem as if you're looking down a tunnel, hence the name. Finally, vision totally fails and you see nothing but darkness, though you remain conscious; this is called blackout.

These stages of retinal hypoxia are often used by the pilots of high-performance aircraft as a warning sign of impending G-LOC, which stands for G-force induced Loss Of Consciousness. G-LOC usually follows visual blackout, and is caused by cerebral hypoxia, which occurs if blood continues to drain away from the brain. Contrary to Zimmy's masculine bravado above, even experienced pilots can suffer symptoms of retinal hypoxia, but with training and apparatus such as g-suits, loss of consciousness can be avoided. Some people are more sensitive to positive g-force and are more likely to experience retinal hypoxia and G-LOC but fitness and training can increase the ability to withstand higher positive gees. There's a maneuver called the g-strain (look it up on YouTube) that can help keep you from losing consciousness, but roller coasters do not inflict enough sustained positive gees to make executing this maneuver worthwhile.

I hope my definitions helped this discussion a bit. The physics of roller coasters is a fascinating and complicated subject. Part of designing a good and safe ride is calculating the way forces affect the human body. We're all different: genetics, fitness, size, age, and experience all affect how our bodies react to each ride. I realize that different people may react to Verbolten in different ways. But I also believe that Zierer, and whoever engineered Verbolten if Zierer subcontracted that to another firm, went into the project with the understanding that the coaster was to be a family-oriented ride and therefore made sure that the forces inflicted by the ride were kept below a certain threshold. I think there's some truth in David's idea that people are confusing the sudden launch into the darkness of the event building, and perhaps the flashing lights and the disorientation caused by zipping past the scenic elements inside, with symptoms of hypoxia. The moderate speed, banking and the brevity of the time spent traveling the helices just doesn't seem enough to inflict retinal hypoxia, and certainly not G-LOC.

 

[Nicole]

Also, drink more water.

 

[Jonquil]

I should note that hypoxia, as I described above, is an inadequate supply of oxygen to the body's tissues. Anoxia is the complete lack of oxygen, which in the case of the brain, causes brain death. I doubt that Verbolten causes even hypoxia, but there is one coaster that certainly does. If you're interested in a sinister application of g-forces in roller coaster design, that link is worth a read. One thing to keep in mind when discussing g-forces is that both the direction of the force and the duration of the force are very important when determining the force's effects on the human body. Very high g-forces can be tolerated by most people depending upon where they're inflicted, and for how long. The "Euthanasia Coaster" works because it sustains a high force over a long period of time. In the real world, extreme roller coasters sometimes inflict up to 6 gees, but only for very brief intervals.

 

[Zimmy]

I still maintain that real men don't gray out.

 

[Jonquil]

I still maintain that real men don't find it necessary to define themselves by arbitrary and misguided standards of "toughness". Graying out is a biological response to physical stimulus and has nothing to do with masculinity.

(with all due respect to my friend Zimmy, of course)

 

[Thomas]

Real men aren't theatre majors.

 

[Jonquil]

Here, you can watch a "real man" experiencing G-LOC after failing to execute the g-strain maneuver correctly. At the top right side of the screen, there are numbers preceded by different letters. The first three, gz, gy and gx, refer to different types of g-force being inflicted on the subject during the test. Gz is gravitational force applied to the vertical axis of the body (head to toe), gy is lateral force applied to the horizontal axis of the body (shoulder to shoulder), and gx is force from chest to back. In the video, the subject is being subjected to positive gz force. Watch the number climb; he G-LOCs after a few seconds of +7.5 gees. As you can see, even after he regains consciousness he remains disoriented for a considerable period of time, including a few seconds of doing the "funky chicken", a common occurrence when "coming back" from G-LOC. If a pilot G-LOCs while flying, this extended loss of control can be disastrous:

Here's another "real man" correctly executing the g-strain maneuver and remaining conscious. You still can see the intensity of the forces experienced by the test subject, and his difficulty avoiding G-LOC. Although this man obviously has an enormous innate tolerance for withstanding high positive g-forces (30 seconds at +6.8 resting, meaning no g-straining and no g-suit pressure) he still describes experiencing some of the symptoms of visual system hypoxia, especially at the beginning of the test. You can also see the blood leaving his head as the forces climb, and you can see it returning to his head as the forces drop; his head goes from red to white to red again:

While the most extreme roller coasters may inflict +6 vertical gees on riders, they do it for only fractions of a second, never for the multiple seconds you see in these tests. Hypoxia can be very dangerous and coasters that inflict G-LOC with any regularity are almost always modified (see Intimidator 305).

Also, I've only discussed positive gees in my posts. Negative gees are much more dangerous for the human body, as they cause blood to flow up from the lower extremities towards the head. Only very mild (and very short-lived) negative gees are ever experienced on roller coasters.

(My apologies for straying from the subject of Verbolten. If y'all admins want to move my posts somewhere else, feel free.)

 

[Zimmy]

Indeed! Good thing I changed before I graduated!

 

[Jake]

Is there any way Verbolten could get a rollback? I know the first launch would be very unlikely but could the train ever fail to make it up to the bridge on the second launch?

 

[Jrbgwfan06]

There is always a chance of a roll-back on any launched coaster, especially on one that launches into an incline.

 

[I305Evan]

Verbolten is interesting... If the first launch does not reach a minimum speed it will still clear the first hill but, it will not be able to make it to the break run thus valleying. If the train does not reach a minimum speed, then the computer Will activate brakes at the end of the launch forcing it to roll back.

The second launch just rolls back as the bridge is the tallest points after the launch.

This is why the yellow train valleyed and had the "mishap" during testing. As they we're testing the minimum speed at the time.

 

[Mike541x]

Got four rides on Verbolten this past Saturday when it was raining. The ride was a complete walk-on the whole night and I even got a train to myself! It's actually kinda eerie riding this by yourself when you're in the show building when you hear the wolves right before the drop. Speaking of which, does Verbolten only do the wolves setting during Christmas town? I think this is the first or second time I've experienced this. I always got spirit or storms in the past...

 

[luseendesi]

I got to have a train to myself during the ACE event last year and I agree it's unsettling with it being so quiet right before the drop, even the drop over the Rhine is weird with no cheering or screaming. And it shouldn't be set only on wolves, I rode it yesterday and got spirit. I rode it ten times in a row last year during the event and if you stay on the same car it goes through all 3 in a row per car, but if you had to get off and switch vehicles this could've resulted in getting wolves over and over.