Skyrush

Skyrush is an Intamin megacoaster at Hersheypark. The ride opened this year to mixed reviews. Some people said it was one of the best coasters ever with insane airtime and turns. Others claimed that the restraints were very uncomfortable, even painful. I was exited to try out this coaster.

Thanks to Coaster-net for the picture.

Skyrush’s line is directly under the lift hill From here we can see the ride’s cable lift, similar to Millennium Force. The trains are very different from a normal coaster’s, they are four across and the two outside seats hang over the edge. The inside seats have floors. The restrains don’t seem that bad here, sure they aren’t B&M seats but they certainly are better than some coasters.

I’ve ridden a couple of other coasters with cable lifts and I can say that Skyrush’s is by far the fastest of all. You reach the top of the 212 foot first hill in less than eight seconds. It practically launches us up. There is even a tiny bit of airtime at the top. The first drop reminds me of the back seat of El Toro, you are yanked over the top and it keeps getting steeper until you reach 85 degrees.

At the bottom of the first drop there is a tight turn to the right, there is an airtime hill here that gives off some crazy ejector air. At the bottom of this hill is a tight turn to the right. The forces here are so strong that the lap bars actually get pulled down tighter. This causes a problem, the next hill’s airtime is so intense that you are flung into the restraints. It is pretty painful.

There is right turn into the overbanked Stengal Dive. The transition out of the dive is possibly one of the scariest moments for me on a coaster. The lateral g-forces practically throw you out of the train. There is yet another turn to the right that pulls the restraints down even further. Next is a twisty element, kind of like those on Intimidator 305. The restraints make this element is so painful that I had to put my hands down to hold on to the lap bar.

There is one more airtime hill that produces the best airtime on the ride. It is possibly as strong as El Toro’s final airtime hill. However the restraints get into the act again and make it painful. There is one more turn before the brakes.

Thanks to Mentalfloss for the picture.

Here is a POV:

Skyrush has the potential to be a 10 out of 10 it has insane airtime and is one of the most intense coasters ever. The restraints just kind of ruin it though. I rode it three times, once in the second row and twice in the back row. They were about the same for airtime so it doesn’t really matter which seat you sit in. If you want a really insane ride sit on the left side. If you want a less painful ride sit in one of the middle seats. Normally I would give a ride this painful a lower rating but I’ve heard that so many people are complaining about the restraints that they are getting new trains. I am giving it an 8 out of 10.

Have you ridden Skyrush? What do you think? Please comment. Thanks for reading! 🙂

Related articles

• Intamin’s Prefab Woodies (coasterguy.wordpress.com)
• El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure (coasterguy.wordpress.com)
• Bizarro at Six Flags New England (coasterguy.wordpress.com)
• Coney Island Cyclone (coasterguy.wordpress.com)