The Alpine Sleighs, Page 4

Derek Rochelle

Aerial shot of Discovery Mountain. Notice the outdoor track sections still present and the slide tubes coming down from the high bridge over the lagoon. (photo by Derek & Roxanne Rochelle taken of a lithograph of the park)

After the 1983 season The Alpine Sleighs closed forever. In 1984 the face of Astroworld changed drastically. The park added the Arrow suspended coaster XLR8 on the site of the former children’s area. All the children’s rides were relocated to the European Village area occupying the land on which the Le Taxi ride stood. The Taxis were moved to the Spin Out race car track next to the Texas Cyclone wooden coaster, and saddest of all, The Alpine Sleigh Ride was converted into a children’s walk-through funhouse called Discovery Mountain. The outdoor sections of track could still be seen behind the mountain. And the high bridge now had a rope climb up to it and slides back down to the ground. The park attempted to make the funhouse fun but real fans of the Sleighs were not amused. I literally cried the day we went to the park and we realized the Sleighs were gone.

Rear of mountain with Ultra Twister roller coaster. Entrance to Echo Tunnel is still visible. (photo by Derek & Roxanne Rochelle)

In 1990 the Togo Ultra Twister heart line coaster opened behind the mountain next to the railroad tracks. Both outdoor Sleighs track sections were removed to make room for Ultra Twister’s station building, load area, and lift hill.

The mountain sits abandoned in the Spring of 2003. (photo by Derek & Roxanne Rochelle)

In 1993 the park added the Giovanola/Intamin stand-up coaster Batman—The Escape just south of the mountain. Discovery Mountain was transformed into the Batcave and became an integral part of the new coaster’s elaborate queue and included some great special effects. The Batcave was almost a walk-through attraction in itself. In 1998 the park closed the Batcave portion of the coaster’s queue due to safety concerns and low popularity of the painful Batman roller coaster. (It was rumored that the mountain contained significant amounts of asbestos.)

The former “Alpie Room” still in its Batcave configuration. (taken during the final week of Astroworld’s operation.) (From the Roy Turner collection.)	Remnants of “The Batcave” in Fall of 2004. (photo by Derek & Roxanne Rochelle)
The former Sleighs station converted into a superhero-themed gift shop (Fall 2005). (photo by Derek & Roxanne Rochelle)	The mountain on the park’s final weekend (October 30, 2005). (photo by Derek & Roxanne Rochelle)

So what ever happened to those Alpies you might ask? Who knows where they might turn up? A similar thing happened with the Speelunkers from the old Speelunker’s Cave attraction at Six Flags Over Texas. Perhaps the Speelunkers and the Alpies are hanging out together someplace. (Ha ha.)

Over the years Astroworld operated a few other attractions with “dark ride”-like elements. The River of No Return jungle boat ride carried guests past crumbling ruins, elephants and even King Kong. A children’s nursery rhyme-themed boat ride called Rub-a-Dub ran for several years in the Children’s World section of the park. And the park had a great haunted-themed tilt house known as Wacky Shack.

But loved most of all was The Alpine Sleigh Ride. It was my very favorite ride of all time. It was the ride that sparked my interest in amusement park rides, especially dark rides.

Demolition begins on the mountain following the park’s closure (February 28, 2006). (photo by Derek & Roxanne Rochelle)

Remnants of Batman queue and mountain during park demolition (February 28, 2006). (photo by Derek & Roxanne Rochelle)

On Sunday October 30, 2005 Six Flags Astroworld closed its gates for the last time. I was honored to have been in the last group of guests to leave the park because I had won an ACE drawing and got to be on the very last public ride of the Texas Cyclone wooden roller coaster. It was so incredibly surreal leaving the park that last time. We looked back at the empty park as we walked across the bridge to the parking lot and all those wonderful childhood memories flooded my mind. Years earlier on the last operating day of the 1983 season Astroworld ran The Alpine Sleighs for the last time. That ride filled my memory that final night. I miss the ride dearly and I will miss the park that I grew up visiting every summer.

Beautiful twilight shot of the mountain (probably mid-70s) (From the Mike Robinson collection.)

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Many thanks go to the following people, without whom this article would not have been possible:

My wife Roxanne for her proofreading and editing...and for sharing the computer with me for many hours.

Tom Shelton, Roy Turner, and Larry Harvey for their great memories and stories, technical facts about the ride, and some amazing photographs. (Especially Roy for the contribution of his Sleighs blueprint—it is a true treasure)

Dan McIntire for the wonderful concept art poster by artist and Imagineer Harper Goff.

And especially the great folks at the wonderful Astroworld fan website sixflagshouston.com: Jason McMillon, Christopher Daniello, Jason Knutson, and Mike Robinson for ride background information and wonderful photographs.

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This article ©2006 Derek Rochelle
All photos ©copyright as noted, all used with permission.