Sunday, February 5, 2017

Ohio's Tallest & Fastest Toboggan Chutes

Photo by OHventures

These giant toboggan chutes can be found at Mill Stream Run Reservation, one of the Cleveland Metroparks located in Strongsville. The chutes are 700 feet long, with a 70-foot tall drop at a 33-degree angle. You can travel down the chutes as fast as 50 miles per hour! There are many factors that can contribute to how fast you go, including the number of people on your toboggan (you can have up to four riders per toboggan), the weight of your riders (plus the weight of the toboggan, which is 37 pounds), the current humidity, and the current temperature.

Two 20-inch-wide chutes are side-by-side on tracks that are refrigerated with a cooling unit and a pump. We learned from facts that were posted at the site that the pump carries cooled diethylene glycol through an underground piping system to the chutes. The diethylene glycol chills the concrete and allows the water on the surface to freeze. This is what allows riders to glide safely and quickly down the hill!

No comments:

Post a Comment