| Taiga | |
| Location: | Linnanmäki |
| Type: | Steel |
| Type2: | Launched |
| Status: | Operating |
| Previousattraction: | Vonkaputous |
| Manufacturer: | Intamin |
| Model: | Blitz Coaster |
| Lift: | Linear synchronous motor Launch |
| Height Ft: | 170.6 |
| Drop Ft: | 105 |
| Length Ft: | 3622 |
| Speed Mph: | 65.9 |
| Inversions: | 4 |
| Duration: | 1:05[1] |
| Capacity: | 860 |
| Gforce: | 5 |
| Restriction In: | 55 |
| Rcdb Number: | 16138 |
Taiga is a steel roller coaster located at the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland. Taiga is the tallest (52m), fastest (106km/h) and longest (1,104m) roller coaster in Finland.[2]
Linnanmäki announced in early 2018, after a series of teaser social media posts, that the park was to build "its greatest ride project ever". This was to be a launched roller coaster built by Swiss manufacturer Intamin, and would surpass each of the records of height, length and speed held to date by Finnish roller coasters.[3] The coaster replaced the park's longstanding Premier Rides water coaster, Vonkaputous.
Taiga opened on June 18, 2019.
The ride starts with a rolling LSM launch out of the station which leads into a Zero-g winder, followed by a series of banked right and left handed sweeping turns. Following these, the train arrives at the coaster's second and final launch: here the train is launched to the rides' top speed of up to a top hat, before pulling down to the right into a Zero-g stall. The train then navigates a small airtime hill before rising into a large immelman loop. A further series of right and left handed S-bends leads the coaster to its final inversion, an in-line twist after which it reaches the brake run and station.[4]
The name Taiga derives from a Russian word that refers to boreal or snow forests - which make up much of Finland's geography. These are areas of land that are mostly pine, spruce, and larch forests. The ride's theme is primarily based around a nesting eagle (which can be seen on the front of the train), which makes regular observation flights from its nest around the park.[5]