Having been unceremoniously unearthed from its underground layer in Forbidden Valley, the ancient Nemesis monster is twisted and angry - can it be contained?
Having been unceremoniously unearthed from its underground layer in Forbidden Valley, the ancient Nemesis monster is twisted and angry - can it be contained?
Theme Park | Alton Towers |
---|---|
Park Area | Forbidden Valley |
Type | Rollercoaster |
Audience | Thrillseekers |
Opened | 19 March 1994 |
Manufacturer | Bolliger & Mabillard |
Model | Inverted Coaster |
Height | 43 ft |
Length | 2349 ft |
Inversions | 4 |
Max Speed | 50 mph |
Highest Drop | 104 ft |
Designer | Tussauds Studios/John Wardley |
Capacity | 1400 riders per hour |
Codename | Secret Weapon 3 (SW3) |
Duration | 1½ minutes |
Extras | Fastrack On-Ride Photos |
Nemesis' vertical loop
Nemesis' track is half buried in a pit, meaning although its highest point is only 40ft above ground level, its largest drop is a little over 100ft.
This quirk came about thanks to local planning legislation which prevents Alton Towers from building any ride above tree height. Thus, the ingeneous solution ride designer John Wardley came up with was to place the rollercoaster in a pit and theme it around an alien creature that had been accidently unearthed during building work in the park's Forbidden Valley area.
Riders board the rollercoaster inside Nemesis' enclosed station, and can choose between queuing for the front row or sitting in any of the remaining seven rows of four. After the restraints are checked, the floor is lowered and the train leaves the station, turning sharp right and engaging onto the lift hill.
At the top of the lift hill the train takes a 180 degree left hand turn and swoops down towards Forbidden Valley, corkscrewing as it goes. An intense positive G turn follows, before the train enters a zero-G roll over the roof of the station.
If they are able to look around at this point, riders find themselves in a chasm with red coloured waterfalls flowing into a red blooded lake below. This is home to Nemesis' third inversion, a dramatic vertical loop that sends riders' legs flinging into the sky.
Passing through a tunnel, there is one more corkscrew before an intense run barely skimming the rock walls that takes the train and its riders careering into the final brake run and back into the Nemesis station.
Although now well over twenty years old, Nemesis is still regularly ranked amongst the top rollercoasters in the world. It offers the most intense experience of any of Alton Towers' rides, and was one of the first inverted coasters to be built. Eighteen years after it opened it inspired a second ride in Forbidden Valley, the much less successful and ultimately underwhelming Nemesis Sub Terra which sought to expand on the story behind the Nemesis legend.
Nemesis is in Forbidden Valley
Nemesis ride area
Nemesis ride entrance
Ride information sign
Nemesis station lit up in red
Engaging on the lift hill
Lift hill
First drop turn-around
Rivers of pink
First drop
Inversion
Upside down under blue skies
Exiting the first inversion
Banked turn
Toe chopper moments with the rockwork
Intense G-forces
Barrelling over the station
Turn around by the pit
Vertical loop
Looping over the queueline
Nemesis loop
Feet in the air
Bottom of the loop
Flying through the rocks
Ride photo booth
Corkscrew
Riding alongside the monorail
Nemesis at sunset
Nemesis station
A vibrant repainted station
Nemesis' track interacts with the queueline at multiple points
The ride exit
Inside the station
"Dimentions"??
Rollercoaster inversions
Corkscrew
The famous vertical loop
First drop over the pink river
One of the world's most intense rollercoasters
Theming in Forbidden Valley
The extended queueline gets regularly used at special events such as Fireworks nights
The bus
Track lit up in red
A ride on Nemesis at night is a fantastic experience
One year after fireworks, Nemesis got its own DJ