A Blast From The Past - La Ronde's Le Monstre

In 1984 La Ronde Amusement Park in Montreal Quebec Canada began construction on what would become Canada's largest wooden roller coaster and the largest dual track wooden coaster in the world.

While both were designed at the same time construction was spread over two seasons. Course 1, at 3996 feet in length, opened in 1985 and the longer, 4025 feet long Course 2 opened in 1986.

Built by William Cobb & Associates Le Monstre is a massive racing wooden coaster standing thirteen stories tall. Course 2 does not run parallel to Course 1 and each track gives a totally different ride experience. There are a total of 12 crossovers, allowing for lots of interaction.

The coaster operates with four Morgan "California Style" trains racing throughout the course. At some point the park replaced the the lap bars and added safety belts, but those were removed and the trains returned to single lap bars at the request of riders. This allows riders more airtime!

The wooden structure makes the ride seem massive from the first drop to the final break run. Riders plunge into the structure and while the drops are not very steep, the 1st drop is approx. 60 feet, they're still very exciting, especially the twisting 2nd drop, which is approx 100 feet.

The ride is smooth and delivers some surprising airtime, notably course 1's double down. There are some great laterials,curvy drops,head choppers and airtime over the rides course.

While Course 1 was fun, we found Course 2 to be a bit smoother and the more exciting ride experience.

Le Monstre offers an awesome view of La Ronde, the St Lawrence Seaway and Montreal.

Le Monstre may not be rated as one of the world's top ten roller coaster, but it is a fun ride and LaRonde is a great park. In our opinion, both are worth trekking across the border to experience.