Montaña Rusa, Wooden roller coaster at La Feria Chapultepec Mágico, Mexico.
Montaña Rusa is a wooden roller coaster that extends through multiple levels of the park and takes riders over steep wooden tracks. The structure consists of massive wooden beams forming a dense network of curves and descents visible from outside the ride.
Montaña Rusa opened in 1964, built by International Amusement Devices and designed by Aurel Vaszin and Edward Leis; its layout later inspired the designers of Screamin' Eagle and Colossus. In the 1980s it received an $800,000 renovation for safety and ride comfort. Renamed Serpiente de Fuego in 1993, it reverted to Montaña Rusa when visitors disliked the new name. Closed from 2019, it was dismantled from April 2022 as the park became Parque Aztlán.
The name Montaña Rusa is Spanish for 'roller coaster', literally 'Russian mountain', the term used across the Spanish-speaking world for this ride type. In 1993 the park renamed it Serpiente de Fuego, but visitors disliked the new name and it reverted to Montaña Rusa.
The coaster no longer exists: it was dismantled in July 2022, and the site is being redeveloped as Parque Aztlán. Visitors to Chapultepec should not plan on riding it or finding its wooden structure in the park. The surrounding section of Chapultepec Park remains open for walking.
Montaña Rusa was a Möbius loop: a train leaving the left station returned to the right one, so the single track ran 8,000 feet (2,400 m) end to end. Only a handful of such coasters exist. In 1979 expert Robert Cartmell rated it 8th best in North America and called it the "most brutal", partly because of Mexico City's 2,240 m altitude.
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