Race through the lands of the American Frontier...
Race through the lands of the American Frontier...
| Theme Park | PortAventura |
|---|---|
| Park Area | Far West |
| Type | Wooden Rollercoaster |
| Audience | Thrillseekers |
| Opened | 17 March 1997 |
| Manufacturer | Custom Coasters International |
| Model | Wooden Coaster |
| Height | 84 ft |
| Length | 3127 ft |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Max Speed | 46 mph |
| Tracks | 2 |
| Designer | John Wardley Dennis McNulty Larry Bill |
| Duration | 2½ minutes |
Racing on Stampida
The story goes that in the days of the first American settlers, families would duel to see who would acquire parcels of land, racing against each other in the red vs blue wagons of Stampida.
The legendary wooden rollercoaster now sits on the outskirts of Penitence, the frontier town at PortAventura.
Stampida was designed by John Wardley together with Dennis McNulty and Larry Bill, and was built by Custom Coasters International. It opened in 1997 as one of only two racing wooden coasters ever built by CCI, the other being Twisted Twins at Kentucky Kingdom which was renovated by RMC to become the non-racing Storm Chaser in 2016.
Visitors can choose to ride either the red or blue track. Both start with a long climb to the top of the 84ft lift hill, then follow each other through a tight right hand corner and down the first drop. Following some bends and airtime hills, the trains enter a pair of tunnels. When they exit these they quickly diverge, leading to a great moment a little later on the circuit where they end up heading straight for each other. Coming back alongside each other, a few more turns and airtime hills give way to the final race to the finish line.
Sadly, although the racing element is fun, Stampida is very rough which rather spoils the ride experience. Its a rattling bone-shaker, but there are some great moments of airtime. Whether it is the forces deliberately designed in to the coaster or the unwanted brutal roughness, its fair to say that Stampida definitely packs a punch.
Entrance
Choose a track
In the station
Red train loaded
On the brake run
Blue train
At the end of the race
Re-entering the station
