Avalanche was a steel bobsled roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, built by German manufacturer Mack Rides and opened to the public on March 26, 1988. It was one of only a handful of Mack bobsled coasters ever built and the only one operating in the United States, sending its trains down a trackless steel channel much like a real bobsled run, with cars styled after Olympic bobsled teams from nations including the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and France.
Riders reached speeds up to 41 mph without a single inversion, relying on high banked curves and sweeping drops rather than loops for its thrills. The ride sat closed during 2020 and 2021 amid the pandemic and construction of the neighboring Tumbili coaster, then returned for the 2022 season repainted in earthy orange tones with new crocodile-themed cars to match the park’s Jungle X-Pedition area — and was renamed Reptilian, the name it still runs under today.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: Kings Dominion (Doswell, Virginia)
- Manufacturer: Mack Rides
- Model: Bobsled coaster
- Opened: March 26, 1988 (as Avalanche)
- Renamed: 2022 (rethemed as Reptilian)
- Height: about 69 feet
- Top speed: 41 mph
- Length: about 1,905 feet
- Inversions: 0
The Ride Experience
Unlike most steel coasters, Avalanche’s three trains of seven cars each ran along open half-pipe channels rather than fixed rails, letting the cars slide freely from side to side on turns just as a real bobsled would. Each train carried 14 riders, two per car seated one behind the other, and climbed a chain lift hill before descending into a series of banked curves and drops that built up speed instead of relying on inversions.
The Olympic bobsled theming carried through to the queue and station, reinforcing the winter-sports identity that gave the ride its name. That theming, along with the coaster’s white color scheme, remained largely unchanged for over three decades until the 2022 refurbishment.
From Avalanche to Reptilian
Kings Dominion announced in January 2022 that Avalanche would reopen as Reptilian, part of a broader push to add the Jungle X-Pedition themed area near the ride. The bobsled cars were repainted and reshaped to resemble crocodiles, and the structure itself was given new earth-toned paint in place of its original white finish.
Mechanically, the coaster is unchanged from its Avalanche days — the same Mack Rides bobsled trains, layout, and 41 mph top speed remain, only the name and theme were retired.
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Avalanche Photo Archive: July 2001
These are original ThrillZing photos of Avalanche taken at Paramount’s Kings Dominion on July 12, 2001, restored and upscaled from the original camera files. They show the Mack bobsled coaster’s entrance sign, the trough track winding over the rockwork and the sleds climbing the lift. All photos are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license with credit to ThrillZing and a link to this page.
Small enough to ride with on most coasters, big enough for a phone, card and keys. Two zippers mean nothing falls out upside down.
A fan and a mist in one, rechargeable. Very popular in queue lines once the afternoon sun hits.
Build a working coaster on the kitchen table and learn why the first drop has to be the tallest. A good gift for young coaster fans.
Avalanche FAQs
Is Avalanche still operating at Kings Dominion?
The same physical coaster still runs, but not under the Avalanche name — it was rethemed and renamed Reptilian for the 2022 season.
What company manufactured Avalanche?
Mack Rides of Germany built Avalanche as a bobsled-model coaster, one of only a handful of that type the company has produced.
Did Avalanche have any loops or inversions?
No, Avalanche had zero inversions. Its thrills came from high-speed drops and banked turns inside a trackless steel channel, mimicking a real bobsled run.
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Photo: WillMcC / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.