Stampida is a twin-track wooden racing roller coaster in the Far West section of PortAventura Park in Salou, Catalonia, Spain. Opened on March 17, 1997, and designed by John Wardley and Larry Bill for manufacturer Custom Coasters International, it was one of the first modern racing coasters to add a dueling, head-on-pass element to its layout, themed to a land feud between two fictional frontier families, the Connerys and the Cranberrys.
Riders choose between the blue and red tracks, which run side by side before splitting apart through a tunnel and a set of twisting turns that bring the two trains into a dramatic near head-on pass before they reunite for the run to the brakes. At 953 meters per track and reaching 74 km/h, Stampida remains one of Europe’s most celebrated wooden coasters nearly three decades after it opened.
Stats at a Glance
- Park: PortAventura Park, Salou, Spain
- Manufacturer: Custom Coasters International
- Opened: March 17, 1997
- Height: about 26 m (84 ft)
- Top speed: about 74 km/h (46 mph)
- Length: about 953 m (3,127 ft) per track
- Inversions: 0
The Ride Experience
After a chain lift, Stampida’s blue and red trains drop together before diverging: the red track twists right through roughly a 270-degree curve while the blue track sweeps left through nearly a full circle, sending the two trains past each other at close range inside a tunnel before the layout reunites them for a final race to the station.
Each train seats 24 riders across six cars in a two-across, two-row layout. The coaster shares part of its route with the neighboring kiddie wooden coaster Tomahawk, and its original trains were replaced ahead of the 2007 season.
A Landmark of Racing Coaster Design
When it opened in 1997, Stampida was notable for combining the classic racing-coaster format with a genuine dueling near-miss, a combination that had rarely been attempted on wooden coasters before. Set in the park’s Far West themed area, its Wild West storyline of rival ranching families adds narrative stakes to the side-by-side race.
Nearly three decades later, Stampida is still regarded as one of the standout wooden coasters in Europe, prized by enthusiasts for its unpredictable duel sequence and its status as a rare classic CCI design still operating at a major park.
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Stampida FAQs
Where is Stampida located?
Stampida operates in the Far West section of PortAventura Park in Salou, Catalonia, Spain.
When did Stampida open?
Stampida opened on March 17, 1997.
Is Stampida a racing or dueling coaster?
Both — it runs as a racing coaster with two parallel tracks that also duel, bringing the trains close together in a head-on pass mid-ride before they reunite for the finish.
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Photo: Jeremy Thompson / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.