I Love Deep Creek Blog

McHENRY, Md.—Judy Finkel wanted her Honolulu-based brother to have a “snow experience” during a recent visit and she knew just where to take him—the new Mountain Coaster ride at Wisp Resort, in Garrett County, Md.

“He had a ball,” said Finkel, referring to Pete Wade, her 61-year-old brother, a recently retired corrections officer. Although it was an over-the-snow, not an on-the-snow experience for her brother, he went right at it, she said.

“He rode it full bore to the bottom,” she said. “He really let it rip.”

“I used the brakes to take the terror factor out of it,” said Finkel, 59, a homemaker who lives near the resort. “It was quite a hoot. I laughed all the way down.”

Wade’s son, Perry Wade, 38, of Huntingdon, Tenn., also rode the mountain coaster. His wife, Audrey, took photos of everyone.

The coaster, manufactured by Wiegand of Germany, has been a popular and profitable addition to the resort that overlooks Deep Creek Lake, about 2¹/₂ hours from Pittsburgh.

A single ride costs $9.50. A double ride—adult and young child—is $15. Resort spokeswoman Lori Epp said more than 10,000 rides were taken between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. The number includes guests who took more than one ride.

The Mountain Coaster, a $1.35 million purchase by Wisp and one of only four in the United States, is the latest addition to a list of activities designed to attract those who don’t want to try downhill skiing or snowboarding but like to get out and do things. Its get-out-and-go list includes snowtubing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing on groomed trails on the golf course, guided snowmobile tours, an arcade, spa and mini-mobiles for children age 6 to 12 on a closely monitored circular track.

Wisp also opened a $24 million artificial whitewater complex for rafters and kayakers called Adventure Sports Center International. The water that flows through the 1,700-foot course during the summer is used for snowmaking in the winter.

Mountain Coaster riders sit in bucket-style seats in a yellow plastic coaster cart and extend their feet into foot rests in front of them. They fasten the seat belt, receive instructions from an attendant and familiarize themselves with the handbrakes. Then they lean against the back rest as a motorized pulley slowly pulls the cart 1,300 vertical feet up Wisp Mountain.

The scenery on the way up includes a stand of evergreen trees on the left and ski and snowboard terrain and a chairlift on the right. The cart goes over the Boulder trail and under a corkscrew loop of coaster track as it continues up the stainless steel framework to the top.

The track levels off and an attendant in a small hut reminds riders to release the brakes so the cart can begin its 3,500 foot descent to the bottom. It’s a less-than-2-minute ride—not much time to look at the lake, the snow-covered terrain, the leafless trees or the skiers and snowboarders sliding down the mountain.

A rider’s focus, especially on a first descent, is on the track ahead and its dips, drops, turns, straight-aways, turns and more turns. Attendants tell riders not to stop lest they have trouble getting started or get bumped by a rider behind them.

A centrifugal braking systems restricts the downhill speed of the cart to 26 mph. Other safety features include yellow flashing lights to let riders know another rider is close ahead or close behind, three surveillance cameras, netting and fencing and five to six track-side employees to monitor everything.

“The best thing about the Mountain Coaster is that anyone can ride it,” said Finkel, a former skier who stopped skiing a decade ago after she injured her left knee. “You don’t have to take any lessons like you do to ski or snowboard. And you don’t have to have any athletic ability. You just get on and go. We just had the most wonderful time.”

So did Taylor Myers of Fairmont, W.Va.

“It was a lot of fun, said Myers, a 16-year-old junior at East Fairmont High School and member of its ski and snowboard club.

She said some friends who had ridden the coaster during an earlier trip to the resort highly recommended it.

“They kept telling me, ‘You have to ride it. You have to ride it,’ “ she said. “So I did.”

Myers, a snowboarder, said the first turn “kind of scared me, but I really enjoyed the rest of them.”

I did, too, after I remembered that I was firmly strapped to the cart and that the cart, while able to slide freely, was firmly contained within the tracking system.

McKeesport native and coaster attendant Phil Wotherspoon said children must be at least 3 years old and 37 inches tall to be able to ride as a front-seat passenger in front of an adult. They also are strapped in and have comfortable foot rests. To ride alone, children must be at least 8 years old, 51 inches tall and demonstrate the ability to operate the brake levers safely.

Wisp general manager Jim Prather said he read an article about a Mountain Coaster installed at Jiminy Peak resort in Hancock, Mass. He and some senior directors went up to take a look, liked what they saw and reported back to the board. The board approved, the coaster arrived in May, 2007, and was up and running for the Labor Day weekend.

Spokeswoman Epp said the coaster does double duty for the resort. It’s not just a winter ride—it’s an all-season attraction.

“It grows the peak season and lengthens the off-season,” said Epp.