Simon Peter Groebner | (TNS) Star Tribune
The new tallest waterslide in North America is dubbed the Rise of Icarus, after the mythical Greek guy who flew too close to the sun, then plummeted into the sea.
That was not lost on me as I sat alone at the top of the 145-foot tower, high above the commotion of the Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park and the treetops of the Wisconsin Dells region, mentally preparing to launch my body feet-first into a long, serpentine tunnel.
I had already climbed some 260 steps to the top of the slender open-air structure during an after-hours preview in late May. Sixty feet up, I’d passed the tower’s four lower slides, and shuddered to realize that I was still less than halfway to the main attraction. I huffed it to the top, resisting the temptation to look down.
The attendant gave me the all-clear, so I lay back and let go, slipping into the void. I let out a couple screams of genuine fear as I dropped, then felt the gravitational force as I made several wide, whipping loops around the tower. After what felt like forever, I was thrust out into the evening light. Only then, I exhaled.
That was intense. And insane. And terrifying. But on subsequent runs the next morning, my screams transformed into whoops of joy.
I’m not big on waterslides that are a straight-down freefall, which describes many of the world’s tallest. Rise of Icarus, on the other hand, takes advantage of its altitude by actually giving the rider time to savor the descent, with a total length of 780 feet at up to 30 mph. I actually clocked about 20 seconds inside Icarus — luxurious by waterslide standards — at a speed of 26 mph, according to my own jittery GoPro video (taken with permission).
Greek empire in the Dells
The Rise of Icarus tower features one 145-foot-tall waterslide starting at the top and four 60-foot-tall slides (in blue/green). (Simon Peter Groebner/Mineapolis Star Tribune/TNS)
Icarus’ journey to becoming the tallest waterslide in America is the culmination of more than 50 years of ambition for the Mt. Olympus waterpark resort in the vast, kitschy middle-class vacationland that is Wisconsin Dells.
“My parents have always wanted to be the biggest and the best,” marketing director Fotini Laskaris Backhaus told me on a tour of the park, referring to the three-generation family business to which she belongs.
Her grandfather, Greek immigrant Demetrios “Jim” Laskaris, started the venture as the Big Chief hot dog stand in 1970. That evolved into a go-kart and roller-coaster attraction that was rebranded Mt. Olympus in 2004, beginning a cheeky commitment to the theme of Greek antiquity and myth. For years, the park’s main claim to fame was the genuinely impressive 65-foot-tall Trojan Horse replica that towers over a go-kart track in the heart of the Wisconsin Dells strip.
Over time, the park usurped neighbors and added attractions, wave pools and 1,600 rooms, including the basic Hotel Rome and small cabins, to become a 200-acre faux-Greco-Roman empire. In …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
