For a few glorious summer weeks in 2011, the steepest roller coaster drop in the world belonged not to a mega-park in Japan or the United States, but to Fraispertuis-City — a family-run Wild West theme park in the Vosges mountains of northeastern France. Timber Drop’s 113.1-degree plunge snatched the world record when it opened that July, and fifteen years later it still holds the title of steepest coaster drop in Europe.
Key Stats
| Height | 96 ft (29.3 m) |
| Drop angle | 113.1° beyond vertical |
| Speed | 41 mph (66 km/h) |
| Inversions | 2 (dive loop and in-line twist) |
| Duration | About 1:20 |
| Manufacturer / model | S&S – Sansei Technologies El Loco |
| Designer | Alan Schilke |
| Opened | July 2011 |
| Cost | €3 million |
A world record in the Vosges
Timber Drop was the first S&S El Loco ever to claim the world’s steepest drop. When it opened in July 2011, its 113.1-degree first drop — 23 degrees past straight down — edged out Mumbo Jumbo at England’s Flamingo Land (112°) at the top of the steepest-drops ranking. The reign was short: Takabisha opened at Japan’s Fuji-Q Highland on July 16, 2011 with a 121-degree drop and took the record within about two weeks. But no coaster in Europe has beaten Timber Drop since, and the European record remains in Jeanménil to this day.
The €3 million ride is themed to the park’s lumberjack-and-Far-West identity: riders climb 96 feet on a chain lift alongside a giant artificial tree trunk, then tip over the sawtooth crest into the beyond-vertical dive. Two inversions follow — a dive loop and a slow, floaty in-line twist — along with the El Loco’s trademark outward-banked turns, all at speeds up to 41 mph in cars carrying just four riders at a time.
Why it punches above its size
On paper, a 96-foot coaster at a regional French park shouldn’t rattle seasoned enthusiasts, but Timber Drop routinely does. El Locos concentrate their intensity into moments rather than sheer speed: the drop’s overhang, the heartline twist taken at a crawl, and turns banked the wrong way all create a sense of being thrown out of the car that bigger, faster coasters rarely match. It made Fraispertuis-City a destination — proof that a family park in the Vosges could, however briefly, out-steep the entire planet.
FAQ
How steep is Timber Drop?
Timber Drop’s first drop is angled at 113.1 degrees — 23.1 degrees beyond vertical. It was the steepest coaster drop in the world for about two weeks in July 2011 and is still the steepest in Europe. See the world ranking.
Where is Timber Drop?
At Fraispertuis-City, a Wild West-themed family park in Jeanménil, in the Vosges department of northeastern France.
What model of coaster is Timber Drop?
An S&S – Sansei Technologies El Loco designed by Alan Schilke: 96 feet tall, 41 mph, two inversions, single four-rider cars. It cost about €3 million and opened in July 2011.
Photo: Freddo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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