Coaster Hipster

28/04/2024

Move over, Baron 1898. Gold Reef City's vertical drop coaster is the real deal. Genuine mine shafts, genuine 90° plunge!

03/09/2023

REVIEW One of 2 full circuit lift inverted coasters by Intamin. How good is Tornado at Parque de Attraciones de Madrid?

23/08/2023

Rolling upside-down into launch = genius idea from

19/12/2021

Goudurix' butterfly is deceptively photogenic 🥵

09/10/2021

In the 1980s, Giovanola entered the amusement industry. It essentially acted as a subcontractor to another Swiss company, Intamin. Back then, Intamin operated as a broker, selling rides designed and manufactured by several other European companies to theme parks around the globe. Schwarzkopf coasters and Water Rides made by Hafema were among the products distributed.

Giovanola complemented this line-up, supplying rides such as Bobsleigh Coasters and 1st Generation Freefall Towers. The company’s factory in Monthey was also repurposed as a testing facility for most rides Intamin sold. The partnership between the two companies was then so intricate to the point Intamin became the major shareholder of Giovanola as it bought out the company from the founding family.

The departure of Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard in 1987 meant Giovanola lost two of their most talented engineers. Nevertheless, the manufacturer continued to work for Intamin. Behind the scenes, the Monthey factory fashioned the track and ride hardware of projects such as Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril at Disneyland Paris. In addition, Intamin sold another two Stand-Up Coasters to Skara Sommarland and Drayton Manor.

By the late 1990s, Intamin started developing their own style of coaster track, resulting in in-house competiton against their own subcontractor Giovanola. The relationship between the two companies became increasingly strained, leading to an eventual divorce.

In 1996, Intamin sold their shares in Giovanola back to the family, and eventually ceased relying on the Monthey factory altogether. From then on another subcontractor, Stakotra, would instead supply coaster track and other ride hardware to Intamin still to this day. With facilities based in Slovenia, Stakotra’s output matches the high quality of Giovanola’s steel manufacturing but with significantly lower labour costs - a reduction of about two-thirds.

Sources:
Bilanz (in German) - https://www.handelszeitung.ch/unternehmen/achterbahn-die-geheime-spassmacht-schweiz
Intamin 1980s Brochure

07/10/2021

🎥 COMING SOON Stay tuned for insights on Big Dipper, Kondaa and more! Interview with Executive Vice-President Sascha Czibulka and Design & Development Vice President Daniel Schoppen in collaboration with .fr

07/10/2021

🎥 COMING SOON interview with Executive Vice-President Sascha Czibulka and Design & Development Vice-President Daniel Schoppen. Stay tuned for insights on Big Dipper, Kondaa, All Speeds and more!

Collaboration with .fr

30/09/2021

Some very special test riders on Tonnerre 2 Zeus yesterday.. Can't wait to experience the repackaged woodie in 2022!

28/09/2021

IAAPA conferences start with a TikTok education session! Creating engagement on the fastest growning social media appears more relevant to business owners.. Coaster Hipster on TikTok soon?

28/09/2021

Back in business

27/09/2021

REVIEW Steel Dolphin rounds up nicely the coaster collection around Shanghai! Intamin turned what was initially supposed to be a drawn out mine train into a thrilling LSM coaster 🎢🇨🇳

#过山车

30/08/2021

17/07/2021

In 1985, Giovanola and Intamin supplied Z-Force to Six Flags Great America/Hurricane Harbor.

It was the first coaster to feature 4 seats-across trains. Perhaps more importantly, the ride used a new distinctive track with a box spine. This new track was developed in-house at Giovanola by a team comprising two promising engineers: Walter Bolliger head of the amusement rides division and Claude Mabillard head of construction. Designed with the help of Werner Stengel, Z-Force featured a compact layout featuring a series of tight curved drops. Unlike most coasters at the time, banked turns were calculated around the heart-line, allowing for smoother transitions.

As part of Six Flags’ ride rotation policy which was prevalent then, Z-Force was moved to several other parks in the chain. In 1992, the coaster was relocated for a second time to Six Flags Magic Mountain and changed its name to Flashback. By then, the coaster was said to deliver a very rough and unpleasant ride experience. In addition, the very loud noise produced by the train was reported to be distracting to safeguards working in the close-by waterpark. By the late 1990s, Flashback was rarely operating during the season. Eventually, the ride was dismantled in 2007.

In 1986, Giovanola produced its own version of a popular ride type at the time: the stand-up coaster. Shockwave opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain reusing the thick box-track as well as the 4-across trains and foreshadows B&M classic looping coasters with little details like the pre-drop and a section of track threading inside the vertical loop. Six Flags also moved Shockwave across different venues. From 1993, the ride operated as Batman The Escape at Astroworld until the park was demolished in 2005.

In 1988 however, a change of management led Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard to leave Giovanola and start their own business. Setting their office still in Monthey nearby their former employers, the new eponymous company was initially expecting to work outside the amusement world. In fact, for their first project B&M designed a rotating platform for a panoramic restaurant located on top of the Berneuse mountain in Switzerland.

However, Six Flags Great America in Illinois offered one project after another, which eventually lured back B&M in the industry. (To begin with, Six Flags asked the new company to design new trains for Sarajevo Bobsled located at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. The corporation wanted to move the ride to Great America, but there was a capacity issue with the original cars. Using their direct knowledge of Giovanola’s Bobsleigh coaster model, B&M delivered new cars compatible with the existing track but with increased capacity.

Six Flags Great America was satisfied with what B&M delivered, so the park asked the new company to design a full-fledged roller coaster. However, because the two Swiss engineers were only getting started as their own firm, this posed several challenges. Finding a facility with high-standard manufacturing was necessary to supply the tracks and columns for the project. Eventually Clermont Steel Fabricators was chosen, as their work building the supports of Vortex at Kings Island was deemed impressive. B&M also needed to ensure the coaster’s track would comply with IP laws, so they made slight alterations to the box design they helped create at Giovanola. Iron Wolf, a stand-up coaster with 2 inversions, successfully debuted in 1990. The rest is history.

14/07/2021

In 1888, Joseph Giovanola, a Swiss blacksmith of Italian descent, started his own workshop in his hometown of Monthey. Initially employing 3 workers, the humble locksmith quickly expanded. After Joseph’s death in 1904, the business was passed over to his wife and his three sons. The elder brother, Joseph Jr., took charge. The company officially registered in 1913 under the name ‘Giovanola Frères’ (which means Giovanola Brothers in French), reflecting its nature as a family venture.

Over the decades, the workshop continued to grow and specialised in steel framework. Gradually, Giovanola established a reputation for innovation, and built several ambitious projects. In 1930, Giovanola engineers helped design the first welded road bridge in Switzerland.

The same year, the company moved again to a ground-up factory located at a place named ‘Clos-Donroux’ still in Monthey. It would continue to operate at this site until the bankruptcy. In the early 1960s the factory reached its peak of operations and employed up to 800 people. By then, Giovanola had significantly diversified its output. A large range of products from power station parts, machinery for the chemical industry to clamps for ski lifts was consistently sent out of the Clos-Donroux workshop.

When Joseph Jr. passed away in 1964, his son Marco succeeded him and became the third generation of the family to take charge. Marco Giovanola himself retired in 1979. The next decade would bring sweeping changes to the company's focus.

14/07/2021

NEW SERIES The History of Giovanola, in short.

5 key facts about the missing link between Intamin and B&M, the 4th one might surprise you ;)

13/07/2021

REVIEW Hals-über-kopf was worth the wait for a Next Gen Vekoma inverted coaster!

park

12/06/2021

Senior Concept Engineer Benjamin Bloemendaal of Vekoma Rides Manufacturing B.V. discusses the "fighter jet" sensations he attempted to create with the design of his Top Gun model. Insightful interview courtesy of Roller Coaster Dream-过山车之梦-中国过山车爱好者俱乐部!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbq721w5J2M

Vekoma lead engineer Benjamin Bloemendaal shared his insights on the recent opened coaster Fighter Jet (Top Gun) at Glorious Orient and general coaster desig...

23/05/2021

Ready to plunge?

05/05/2021

OH MY GAWD!!1!