Do amusement park rollercoasters have anything to do with the mountains of Siberia? Or is it just a way of speaking? This is the not-so-stupid question answered the evening edition in his podcast meeting of the day.
You may have asked yourself this question during the slow climb to the top of a thrill ride. This thought barely has time to cross your mind before it becomes blurred between the screams, while your wagon rushes off at full speed in a succession of terrifying loops.
But then, do roller coasters live up to their name?
We answer you in the podcast below:
The answer depends on what we're talking about. According to most historians, the ancestor of the roller coaster was invented in Russia almost 500 years ago, in the 16the century. It would be a form of ice slide. They looked like large wooden structures covered in ice, which were accessed via a staircase, before sliding down a slope of almost 30 meters, aboard wicker seats. The speed was dampened by a pile of sand at the finish.
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They were found in particular in Saint Petersburg. The buildings often dominating the houses, they were nicknamed the “Flying Mountains”. Russian high society was quickly won over by this invention, so much so that it is said that Empress Catherine the Great was fond of it and had one built on her property.
Modern roller coasters would be… French
But if the ancestor of the roller coaster does indeed come from Russia, nothing is less certain about its modern version, which could just as easily be… French!
Indeed, the main innovation that modernizes the slide is in fact the addition of wheels. And it is from there that historians diverge. Some say that it was one of the members of the Tsar's family who requested an invention to be able to enjoy the Frozen Mountains all year round. Others assure that they are French. Since it wasn't cold enough for icy slides, the French version was made from wax. It worked less well, which would have given rise to the idea of the wheel.
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What is certain is that once imported to Paris at the beginning of the 19the century, the concept is known as the Roller Coaster. About ten years later, in 1817, The Belleville Roller Coasters et THE Aerial Walks are built in Paris, almost on the same model as those we know today: cars attached to the track by a system of rails.
American mountains
And the first looping SO ? For his part, he would be English! Imported to France in the 1840s, this attraction was then called the “Centrifugal Railway.” Several years later, it appeared in the United States, a country which would revolutionize leisure with new innovations, experiencing dazzling success among Americans.
So much so that for Russians, these attractions are today called… “American mountains”.
