Ripsaw
Can you cut it? A question that might just cross your mind as you spin 360 degrees, swinging wildly over Forbidden Valley. And perhaps once again as you descend ever closer to the water fountains before you swing away and the process begins all over again.
In its time, Ripsaw was one of the icons of Forbidden Valley and was themed as a piece of discarded machinery, no doubt from the excavation of the pit of Nemesis. A firm favourite with riders, its stunning visuals meant the ride was as fun for spectators, who could watch their friends and family squirm, as they received a soaking from the fountains.
Since 2002, the ride also served to highlight the contrast between the two halves of Forbidden Valley, when the gleaming glass façade of the Air Shop was built metres from the faux rusted machinery of Ripsaw.
Ripsaw was added to the park in 1997 alongside The Blade as a replacement for Thunder Looper. Whilst The Blade was installed directly into the pit that had once contained the coaster, Ripsaw was added towards the edge of the area against a tree-lined backdrop.
The ride arrived at the park during the golden age of the 90s and thus a lot of care was taken to perfect the attraction's backstory during development. Earlier iterations focused more on nuclear fallout and it was not until very late on in the planning process the ride gained the name Ripsaw, replacing its original name of "The Screw".
When it first opened, Ripsaw had an on-ride photo to capture the moment guests received their detox, which could be purchased from the neighbouring shop, Ripsaw Relics. However, this setup only lasted a few years before the ride's camera was repurposed elsewhere in the park and Ripsaw Relics became first an arcade and later a café.
What Happened Next...
Ripsaw's time in the park was very much a tale of two halves: in the early years it was the darling of the park and its visitors alike. And indeed its popularity with guests remained strong right up to the day it was removed. However, at around ten years old the ride looked like it might need a detox of its own, with increasing amounts of downtime often afflicting the ride.
In later years the number of programmes Ripsaw was able to run was dramatically reduced and it was not unusual to have periods where the fountains did not interact with the ride and sometimes they would not run at all. As a side effect of its regular maintenance, Ripsaw also saw a number of minor changes to its appearance over the years, which included the removal of much of the on-ride theming such as the large blue coil-type screws on the ride's structure and the circular-saw theming from the tops of the gondola arms.
But seemingly this was to no avail and the ride continued to have costly periods of maintenance, during both closed and open seasons. And so it was almost inevitable that Ripsaw was one of the five rides slated for closure when the park were looking to make savings at the end of the 2015 season. Over the closed season, the ride and its queue line bridge were dismantled and temporarily piled in the coach park, giving a unique close-up for this much loved attraction.
The following year the site became home to a new legendry attraction, a pay-per-play game called Forbidden Sweep, which remained for a couple of seasons. During this period some remnants of Ripsaw's theming remained, including the ride's operator cabin and backdrop, which in 2019 acted as the set for the extremely short-lived show, Wasteland Bash. The remaining theming was eventually removed to make way for Funk'n'Fly, when The Retro Squad arrived in 2021.
But the story didn't end there... After departing Alton Towers, much of the ride itself ended up in the scrapyard but the gondola and various other ride parts made a rather more exciting trip; eventually ending up in Germany as spare parts for Heide Park's Top Spin.
Some of Ripsaw's theming remains at Alton Towers. An old truck had been used for the operator cabin and the cabin itself is still backstage at the park in 2024. The cab of the truck, meanwhile, made its way south and eventually became part of the themeing for Mandrill Mayhem at Chessington World of Adventure
As fate would have it, Ripsaw would also not be the final Top Spin to operate on this site. In 2025, Project Ocean will open on the former site of Ripsaw, which will see a new floorless Top Spin added to Forbidden Valley. The new ride will very much be a spiritual successor to the classic Ripsaw, but in a new twist Project Ocean will be built on a plinth that straddles the main path, allowing guests to walk underneath the ride whilst in operation.
