Here's to go a good run!

"We always go at full speed,” Mia and Pauline make it quite clear straight away. The two friends can do the Chiemgau Coaster standing on their head. They never get bored with whizzing down the hill despite this. They happily join the queue and wait for the next free toboggan to be ready for them to climb into. Then Pauline sets at the back and Mia slips into the front. Young pilots can ride the Coaster on their own from age seven and if they are at least 1.40 metres tall and accompanied by an adult from the age of four. The two friends always sit together in a toboggan because it’s much more fun, they say.

They both strap on the safety belt, which cannot be opened during the whole run. A member of staff checks that everything is right before the trip up the mountain begins. For this the toboggan automatically and securely sticks to the hoisting cable and is pulled up slowly and straight. After about 150 metres, Pauline and Mia cross a road at five metres high and afterwards they pass under the toboggan run first and then over it. You can hear loud cheering from the toboggans that are on their way down at that moment. The girls are really jittery, the trip is clearly too slow for them. Then they’ve reached the edge of the forest and have finally arrived at the top station and therefore the start to the Coaster. The toboggan gently releases on its own. It glides around a flat left-hand bend and finally the downhill run is in front of the friends. Pauline, who is sitting at the back, controls the speed. There is always a lever on the right and left of the toboggan. If Pauline pushes it forwards the toboggan speeds up, if you pull it back, it slows down. “But we don’t ever really brake,” laughs the 12-year-old accelerating.

They really pick up speed in just the first few metres and on the first bend. Mia, who is sitting in the front, holds onto the handle tight with both hands crouching down so she is really small and streamlined. They are screaming with joy. The toboggan can reach up to 40 kilometres an hour. The speed is at its fastest just as it exits the forest. It’s still shady and the trees are close enough to touch and in the next moment everything is open. The whole Ruhpolding valley basin is spread out in front of the duo with the Rauschberg mountain behind them. Pauline and Mia are not interested in the panorama at all at that moment though. They are approaching a jump and the first loop, just under eight metres high. In the centre of this you get a brief glimpse of the tip of St. Georg parish church’s tower. Anyone riding the Coaster for the first time is usually concentrating so much, that they don’t notice it. “I always see it,” says Pauline. The centrifugal forces in the loop are huge. The girls are really shaken. They love it!

Two 180 degree bends then follow, one to the right, one to the left, which are modelled on the artificial ice rink on Königssee. Pauline and Mia put all their weight into it, making it even faster. The toboggan run’s second loop then follows soon. It is similar to the legendary “Wilde Maus” fairground ride at the Oktoberfest, a roller coaster without any loop. You head into the loop relatively flat before the rails abruptly fall away. If feels like your falling into a hole. “And you can briefly see the Maypole in the village,” knows Mia. The girls shoot down the run at full speed. A long left-hand bend leads them into the flatter section that runs really close over the meadow. Pauline and Mia cruise through harmonious bends and over smaller jumps. At the end the automatic braking system slows their toboggan’s speed down. This prevents any rear-end collisions. They can only open their safety belts and get out after the marking. The toboggan carries on to the start on its own. The girls have 770 metres downhill, 78 meters elevation difference,  two loops, seven steep bends,  three jumps, five bridges and 14 waves behind them. Obviously that’s not nearly enough though. Chiemgau Coaster is open in almost any weather, even when it’s raining. Covers are simply pulled over the toboggans then. It even promises action for all ages in the winter. Firmly attached Plexiglass covers then protect you from the icy wind and snowfall. Naturally, Pauline and Mia don’t want to wait that long though. They jump around to the ticket booth and are already waiting in the queue for the next run again. This time Pauline is allowed to sit in the front and Mia is sitting in the back.