Lake Compounce

It is always hard to get going in the morning and as my alarm rang at seven it took me a little while to remember that I was going to a park today. Back in Jan. or Feb. someone took a poll and asked what everyone's most anticipated coaster of the year was. I said Boulder Dash, but that I had no idea when (if ever) I would get to ride it. Well, time changes a lot of things and as I sped down from New Hampshire I was looking forward to my second park in New England.

The Lake, as the employees are now apparently expected to call it, has a great entrance because you pass through a tunnel and everything opens up and the main entrance and Wildcat are right in front of you...a picture waiting to happen.

The beautiful entrance to Lake Compounce Park.

I hit Boulder Dash first and, after hearing the rave reviews everyone had placed upon it, I was encouraged. This ride has to be one of the most gorgeous out there and must really be seen to be believed. The first drop is so well hidden you do not know what to expect and the ride itself is an engineering marvel. I still cannot fathom the time & skill it took to design a ride this good...let alone with all of the landscape variables.

The station is nice; although they will need to do something about the trail covering in front of the bridge to the station...it is already beginning to thin out. The station is nice as it lets you choose your seat (a rarity at this park) and fits in the area quite well. The train takes a nice little dip into the lift and you head up in your PTC's which would be fine except for the seat belts...they really help slow downloading time. After a slight jog to the right you experience the amazing first drop. This, and the third hill (second large drop) I think are what Harry Traver was envisioning somewhat when he built his rides. Both of these drops offer airtime and strong laterals...an unusual combination. In fact, this is my first out and back which featured amazing airtime and amazing laterals -CCI did a great job in this area. The double up does not work quite as well as expected. After a couple more hills we hit the turn-around. This is where the coaster which was fun gets down right vicious. You roar out of that turn and pick up even more speed (which you did not think was possible). The ride finishes with unchecked speed as it flies over hills back to the station.

Boulder Dash is a coaster that has topped the lists of many coaster enthusiasts. Click here for the Boulderdash page.

I loved this ride, it is not my number one, but I think it is a great (not just a good) ride. The one thing I did not like about it was that some of the hills, especially after the turn-around, were a bit too rampy. I expected them to have better defined crests and shapes which would have produced more sustained airtime...if it would have had this it would be my number one wooden coaster. I took several rides on BD, spending my time in most of the seats in the first and last cars.