Aerial Antics: PortAventura's Shambhala

One of 2012 taller coasters to open, though not quite the tallest, was PortAventura's Shambhala, a large B&M mega coaster.

Shambhala stands an impressive 249 feet tall, and has an even bigger drop, at 255 feet.  The trains head down the first drop directly into a below grade tunnel:

The lift hill of Shambhala actually crosses over its smaller B&M cousin, Dragon Khan.  You can see Dragon Khan's spiffy new paint job in these images as well.  But back to Shambhala.  After the first drop there are a couple large hills, the kind usually found on B&M mega coasters, then one of the most visually impressive turn around elements we've seen in a while:

Quite twisted!  Once the train gets headed back, it maneuvers through several air time hills, and through a faux splash pond.  Eventually it zooms past the station area, in to the final turn and brakes, which were not quite done at the time the aerials were taken:

When all is said and done the trains travel over 5,131 feet of track.  If you'd like to check out the ride on Google Maps for yourself, click here.