Walking The Wicker Man

I was chosen! (Well I paid about £70 for the privilege) and I was booked to walk up the lift hill of The Wicker Man. Oooooh exciting!

It’s my third climb after Oblivion and of course The Big One, and this one is one I’d recommend to first timers. It’s still a climb, and there’s still an element of height involved; but there’s no harness requirement as it’s walkways either side of the track and the angle of the lift hill isn’t too bad – although the first few metres up to the hump take it out on your calves!

We started at the base station and the staff took us through a tour of the box (no photos allowed sadly – GCI are very protective of their IP) and then on to a tour of the station, before we then locked off the coaster and then started the climb.

The first time you see Bob is straight out of the station. It’s a view many people have seen, but not many have photographed.

We then started the climb and the first section takes its toll on already tired calves – bearing in mind I was already on 20,000 steps at this point!

It always amuses me that the chain doesn’t start at the very bottom of the lift hill – but the train does hit the hill with a fair turn of speed, and you know that bouncing you feel when you’re at the bottom of the hill? Well that’s a counterweight bouncing up and down trying to relieve stress on the chain. The motor is about the same power as a 1 litre Ford Fiesta (which was nice to find out!)

As we continued up we got a couple more opportunities for photos, and again sunset gave me some of the best light imaginable!

And onwards up the main run to the very top of the lift hill and the start of the tunnel.

The sunset was looking incredible from up here, and Big Bob just looked amazing with it behind him.

After about 15 minutes at the very top taking photos and being told about some of the curiosities and unique points about the coaster (including how a woodie technically has no lifespan limit – unlike steel coasters which last about 30 years) we headed back down, but not before I got these rarely seen views.

Finally we climbed back down and after a brief Q&A session in the station we were escorted back to the theme park entrance.

A great day and a great experience! I hope they do Nemesis Reborn next.

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