Gerstlauer's First Hyper Coaster to Open in 2015

© Hansa Park

2015 will usher in the start of Gerstlauer's foray into the hyper coaster market with the opening of KÄRNAN'S OATH  – Beware of its Spell!, commonly being referred to as just Kärnan.  The coaster will open at Hansa Park in Germany, and will be the park's second Gerstlauer ride with the first being a Euro-Fighter named Fluch von Novgorod.

Kärnan will easily be the tallest roller coaster that Gerstlauer has done, as it will stand around 240 feet tall, and have a 220 foot first drop.  Hansa Park has released the details of the coaster in little bits, and no full layout (other than the concept art above) has been released.

© Hansa Park

We do know that the coaster will utilize a vertical lift hill that is located in the giant tower (seen above) that has been built.  That lift will be followed by a vertical drop through the tower, with the trains speeding out of the hole you can also see above.  The rest of the ride features track that stays relatively low to the ground, an inversion in the dark, and an element that is in the shape of a heart.

The trains will seat four riders across, with four rows for a total of sixteen passengers.  The short train design will allow for tight transitions and elements.

© Hansa Park

The park finished the tower earlier this fall, and has since started the instillation of the ride.  Much like Fluch von Novgorod, Kärnan will have dark ride sections and an elaborate story line - there will actually be a dark ride section before the lift and again before the station at the end of the ride.  The total track length will be 4,051 feet which is fairly long considering the ride does not have a traditional lift hill.  Hansa Park has said they will open the coaster in 2015 and then work on applying the theming for the 2016 season.

To my knowledge, Takabisha at Japan's Fuji-Q Highland was Gerstlauer's largest coaster before Kärnan, utilizing both a lift hill and launch section.  I would expect the company to be showing off as much of Kärnan as they can at next week's IAAPA convention, so perhaps we'll learn more about the ride then.