The Ultimate (roller coaster)

Ultimate starts off exiting the station using two drive chains underneath the train, it then turns a corner just outside of the station to reach the first lift hill. The first lift leads to the first big drop of the ride. When the train has got to the bottom of the drop it then bounces over two large bunny hills before travelling at speed along the track towards the second lift. On approach to the second lift, the train goes over several small bunny hills and then climbs onto the lift. At the top of the lift, the train goes round a left hand corner pointing it in the direction of the woods. The train then drops into a heavily wooded section and rattles its way through the woods. After at least five banked turns, the train travels down an offroad track and through a double helix tunnel. The last section of the ride can often stall the train on cold days and most mornings. The train often has to be pulled along with a JCB digger to make it onto the return lift hill and back into the station.

Ultimate represented an investment of £5.2 million and was the concept of the park's original owner, Robert Staveley. Construction work began in early 1990 and took eighteen months to complete before the opening to the public on 17 July 1991.

While Ultimate was designed by Big Country Motioneering, they were not involved with the completion of the project. Lightwater Valley's owner had engineers from British Rail oversee the construction. A few sections of track on the second half of the ride were redesigned to change their banking. The track was made by "Tubular Engineering".

Set within 44 acres (178,000 m²) of woodland, Ultimate takes passengers on a 7 minute 34 second ride along 7,442 feet (2,268 m) of tubular steel track (an average of 11.2 mph (18.0 km/h)), with two lift hills of 102 and 107 feet (31 and 33 m) respectively (140 feet (43 m) when taking the full gradient into effect) which rest on Canadian redwood trestles. It currently runs two trains on a normal day, each of which can hold a maximum of 38 passengers. It originally had over the shoulder restraints but after complaints of discomfort, these were changed to a giant lap bar.

In June 1994, a deer from a nearby forest strayed onto the track and was hit by the train. A 12-year-old boy was taken to the hospital as a result of the accident.[2] In September 2014, another collision with a deer on the track occurred. No riders were injured, but the deer was killed instantly. Park officials stated that although the perimeter is fenced off, animals such as deer occasionally get in.[3]