Russian Mountains

This redirect is about an early type of amusement park ride. For the mountain range in Antarctica, see Russkiye Mountains. For the area in the Klamath Mountains in California, see Russian Wilderness. For the mountains and hills of Russia, see List of mountains and hills of Russia.

For other uses, see Russian Mountains (disambiguation).

Katalnaya gorka pavilion in Oranienbaum, a part of the 18th-century roller-coaster complex

Russian Mountains were a predecessor to the roller coaster in which the term is adopted by several Romance languages in other parts of Europe.

The earliest roller coasters were descended from Russian winter sled rides held on specially constructed hills of ice, sometimes up to 60 m (200 feet) tall. Known from the 17th century, the slides were built to a height of between 21 to 24 m (70 to 80 feet), had a 50-degree initial slope, and were reinforced by wooden supports. In the 18th century they were especially popular in St. Petersburg and surroundings, from where their usage and popularity spread to the rest of Europe. Sometimes wheeled carts were used instead of tracks, like in the Katalnaya Gorka built in Catherine II's residence in Oranienbaum. By the late 18th century, their popularity was such that entrepreneurs elsewhere began copying the idea, using wheeled cars built on tracks. The first such wheeled ride was brought to Paris in 1804 under the name Les Montagnes Russes (French for "Russian Mountains").

Early builders

Among the early companies were Les Montagnes Russes à Belleville, which constructed and operated a gravity track in Paris from 1812, and Promenades Aeriennes ("Aerial Promenades", 1817, at Folie Beaujon, Paris). The first loop track was probably also built in Paris from an English design in 1846, with a single-person wheeled sled running through a 4-metre (13-foot) diameter loop. None of these tracks were complete circuits.

In modern times

To this day, a number of Romance languages (e.g. French: montagnes russes, Italian: montagne russe, Portuguese: montanha-russa, Spanish: montaña rusa) use the equivalent of "Russian Mountains" to refer to roller coasters. When the much modern and mechanized roller coasters appeared in Russia in the 19th century, they became locally known as американские горки (Amerikanskie gorki), or "American mountains". For example, Gagarin Park, the second largest amusement park in St. Petersburg has an Amerikanskie gorki ride.

Bibliography

• Sphinx Fine Art; Strachan, Edward; Bolton, Roy (2008). Russia and Europe in the Nineteenth Century - Edward Strachan, Roy Bolton. ISBN 9781907200021. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
• Rutherford, Scott (2004). The American Roller Coaster - Scott Rutherford. ISBN 9780760319291. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
• Romero, Pedro (2007). Night+Day Mexico City - Pedro Romero. ISBN 9780977624560. Retrieved 2013-07-26.