Skull Mountain

Back in the days when Six Flags America was Adventure World, the park introduced Skull Island, a 10-acre pirate themed land for the 1997 season. Anchoring the area was Skull Mountain, a $12 million one of a kind flume ride, billed at the time by General Manager Hue Eichelberger as the "21st century mating of the log flume and the roller coaster".

The flume, with a massive Skull themed rocky outcrop as its centrepiece, was a reversing log flume ride built by Intamin. It was originally known as Typhoon Sea Coaster, before being renovated and renamed Skull Mountain in 2007.

The ride began with a short dark ride section through a tunnel past a couple of pirate themed sets. Emerging into the light, boats would climb a lift hill and then be rotated around on a turntable to be sent over a camel hump for the first splash down of the ride. After another dark ride tunnel the boats floated around to the ride's main 30° lift hill, at the top of which was another turntable. This time, boats were spun around and sent down the 60ft main drop through the giant Skull, creating a large splash at the bottom.

When it operated as Typhoon Sea Coaster, the two extra turntables were used to send boats over the camel hump part of the ride backwards. However, the added complexity caused maintenance issues and when the ride was renovated in 2007 it was redesigned to run forwards through the entire course.

While it was not completely immersive, Skull Mountain was one of the better themed rides at Six Flags America and, even when the backwards section was removed, provided a great fun ride experience. The splash down provided some welcome relief on a hot sunny Maryland day and its loss is still felt in the park today.

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