Yukon Striker

Following the park's removal of SkyRider, Canada's Wonderland began preparations for a new ride.{{cite web|url=https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/projects/2018/09/deeper-dive-constructing-yukon-striker|title=A deeper dive into constructing the Yukon Striker|last=Gismondi|first=Angela|date=11 September 2018|access-date=3 May 2019|work=Daily Commercial News by ConstructConnect|publisher=ConstructConnect Canada, Inc.}} In 2014, the park requested a geotechnical investigation of the area, extracting soil samples to assess building a roller coaster's concrete foundation.{{cite web|url=https://www.canadaswonderland.com/blog/october-2018/building-yukon-striker-the-construction-timeline-of-a-world-record-breaking-dive-roller-coaster|title=Building Yukon Striker: Constructing a world-record breaking dive roller coaster|publisher=Cedar Fair Entertainment Company|date=9 October 2018|last=Peacock|first=Grace|access-date=3 May 2019}} On 19 December 2017, Canada's Wonderland filed an application for a permit to build nine support footers on the water and amend the waterway with a tunnel travelling under the pond within the park.{{cite web|url=https://trca.ca/app/uploads/2018/01/11-17-Agenda-Package-Executive-Committee_Jan12_2018-Merged-Agenda.pdf|title=10.4 270437478 Ontario Ltd.|pages=45–47|date=12 January 2018|work=Executive Committee Meeting Revised Agenga #11/17|publisher=Toronto and Region Conservation Authority|access-date=4 May 2019}} A permit was required from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), as parts of the ride, and the pond beneath it, fall within the Don River watershed. The application was approved by the TRCA on 9 January 2018, with construction on the ride's foundations beginning later that month.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/08/15/record-breaking-dive-coaster-coming-to-canadas-wonderland.html|title=Record-breaking dive coaster coming to Canada's Wonderland|last=Harris|first=Tamar|date=15 August 2018|work=Toronto Star|access-date=24 August 2018|language=en}}

File:Yukon Striker, underwater tunnel opening.jpg to stay operational for the 2018 season]]

The diversionary channel was built under the pond in order to facilitate the creation of the underwater tunnel, as well as prevent silt runoff downstream. Construction for the diversionary channel, as well as the ride's underwater tunnel, required the temporary removal of two track pieces and a few supports belonging to Vortex, a roller coaster adjacent to Yukon Striker. Work on the tunnel was completed before the park opened for 2018, with the installation of four track pieces and two water pumps to pump rainwater out of the tunnel. With the tunnel completed, the removed pieces from Vortex were reinstalled, allowing for Vortex to be operational by the time the park reopened for the 2018 season.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

In July 2018, following continuous construction during the operating season, the park began teasing a planned announcement scheduled the following month. On 15 August 2018, the roller coaster was officially introduced to the public, with renderings and details about the ride revealed.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/yukon-striker-roller-coaster-canadas-wonderland/index.html|title=Coming in 2019: Dive coaster with 245-foot straight drop|last=Brown|first=Forrest|date=15 August 2018|work=CNN Travel|access-date=25 August 2018|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/yukon-striker-longest-tallest-dive-roller-coaster|title=The New World's Fastest, Tallest and Longest Dive Roller Coaster Is Opening Next Year|last=Romano|first=Andrea|date=15 August 2018|work=Travel + Leisure|access-date=25 August 2018|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/yukon-striker-roller-coaster-canadas-wonderland-1.4785094|title=Canada's Wonderland says it is building longest, fastest, highest roller-coaster of its type for 2019|last=McLaughlin|first=Amara|date=15 August 2018|work=CBC|access-date=24 August 2018|language=en-US}} Construction for the roller coaster was completed on 4 February 2019, with the installation of the last track piece onto the 360-loop.{{cite web|url=https://www.canadaswonderland.com/media-center/020419-canadas-wonderland-completes-construction-of-record-breaking-dive-roller-coaster-yukon-striker|title=Canada's Wonderland Completes Construction of Record-breaking Dive Roller Coaster Yukon Striker|publisher=Cedar Fair Entertainment Company|work=Canada's Wonderland|access-date=4 May 2019|date=4 February 2019}} Installation of the ride train, and landscaping of the surrounding area began after construction was completed.

On 24 April 2019, seventy-two people who helped raise funds for The Hospital for Sick Children were invited to test-ride Yukon Striker.{{Cite web|url=https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/thrill-seekers-soar-on-canada-s-wonderland-s-new-record-breaking-coaster-1.4393002|title=Thrill-seekers soar on Canada's Wonderland's new record-breaking coaster|last=Doyle|first=Aileen|publisher=BellMedia|work=CTV News Barrie|date=24 April 2019}} In the days that followed, members of the media from Ontario, and neighbouring Buffalo, New York, were invited to ride Yukon Striker.{{cite web|url=https://www.bradfordtoday.ca/new-in-town/new-in-town-how-i-didnt-die-but-felt-like-i-would-while-riding-new-record-breaking-roller-coaster-1394064|title=New in Town: How I didn't die (but felt like I would) while riding new record-breaking roller-coaster|last=Dunning|first=Jenni|work=Bradford Today|date=28 April 2019|publisher=Village Media|access-date=4 May 2019}} The ride was later opened to the general public on 3 May 2019, during the park's opening day for the 2019 season.{{cite web|url=https://wgntv.com/2019/05/03/coastin-the-country-ep-3-yukon-striker-opens-at-canadas-wonderland/|title=Coastin' The Country Ep. 3: Yukon Striker opens at Canada's Wonderland|first=Marcus|last=Leshock|date=3 May 2019|access-date=4 May 2019|work=WGN-9|publisher=Tribune Broadcasting}}

The ride was designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, with the Canadian construction firm, E.S. Fox, contracted to build the ride. Secant Engineers, a local structural engineering firm, was contracted to design the ride's tunnel, as well as the ride's foundations. It is the first Dive Coaster to be built in Canada.

File:Yukon Striker at Canada's Wonderland, May 2019 (3).jpg]]

The steel track is {{Convert|1105|m|ft}} long and the lift is {{Convert|68|m|ft}} high. The track is made up of 107 individual orange-coloured steel track pieces, the total of which weights 1,213 metric tonnes. There are 42 support columns used to support the ride. The steel used to build the roller coaster originated from Clermont Steel Fabricators in Batavia, Ohio.

Yukon Striker operates with three fibreglass trains each seating 3 rows of 8 for a total of 24 riders per train. The trains use vest restraints which were introduced on B&M's Wing Coasters. Each train is coloured a different colour, gold, silver or bronze.

After departing the station, the train turns 180 degrees to the right and ascends {{Convert|68|m|ft}} up the lift hill, travelling at an angle of 47 degrees. It then turns 90 degrees to the right, halting at the 90-degree drop, where a portion of the train hangs slightly over. After pausing for 5 seconds, riders plunge {{convert|75|m|ft|round=5}} through the middle of Vortex's helix and into an underwater tunnel, reaching a top speed of {{Convert|130|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}. After exiting the tunnel, the train rises into an Immelmann loop. The Immelmann loop itself is {{convert|57|m|ft}} above the floor of the tunnel, {{Convert|45|m|ft}} above the exit of the tunnel, and {{convert|50|m|ft|round=5}} above the water Vortex sits on.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHFEfMAVrkU|title=Canada's Wonderland Yukon Striker Immelmann Height Answer & Update|date=16 August 2018|website=Amusement Insiders|publisher=YouTube|access-date=3 April 2019}} Following the Immelmann loop, the train then enters a Zero-G Winder, a combination of a Zero-G Roll and a Sidewinder. {{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/america/theme-parks/2018/08/15/canadas-wonderland-record-breaking-yukon-striker-coaster/992580002/|title=Canada's Wonderland: Record-breaking Yukon Striker coaster announced|last=Levine|first=Arthur|date=15 August 2018|work=USA Today|access-date=24 August 2018|language=en}} This is followed by a complete 360-degree vertical loop, a first for a Dive Coaster and a second Immelmann loop before reaching the mid-course brake run, placed directly above Timberwolf Falls. The train dives down another steep drop into an airtime hill and then proceeds counterclockwise through a 360-degree helix that ends at the final brake run. One cycle of the ride lasts approximately 205 seconds.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOzWTIFfIQo|title=Yukon Striker - POV - Canada's Wonderland|date=15 August 2018|website=Canada's Wonderland|publisher=YouTube|access-date=24 August 2018}}

File:Yukon Striker under construction (31582221128).jpg and portions of the record-setting drop during the ride's construction]]

When it opened in May 2019, Yukon Striker set three world records among Dive Coaster models for speed, length, and drop height. It became the fastest with a maximum speed of {{convert|130|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}, as well as the longest with a track length of {{convert|1105|m|ft}}. Although its height of {{convert|68|m|ft}} ties Valravn at Cedar Point, Yukon Striker features the longest drop on a Dive Coaster at {{convert|75|m|ft|round=5}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/yukon-striker-roller-coaster-opens-canada/index.html|last=Brown|first=Forrest|work=CNN Travel|title=Coaster dares you to take a 245-foot straight dive into an abyss|publisher=Cable News Network|access-date=3 May 2019|date=3 May 2019}} In addition to the records, its 360-degree vertical loop is also a first for Dive Coasters.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/yukon-striker-roller-coaster_l_5cc6991ae4b08e4e34842ae7|title=Thrills or Sheer Terror? World's Tallest, Longest, Fastest Dive Coaster Is Here|publisher=The Huffington Post.com Inc.|work=The Huffington Post|last=Mazza|first=Ed|date=29 April 2019|access-date=3 May 2019}}

The Golden Ticket Awards is an annual set of awards given out by Amusement Today, a newspaper published for the amusement industry. The rankings are selected by an international poll conducted by the newspaper. In 2019, Yukon Striker was ranked as the 34th best steel roller coaster in the world.{{cite web|url=http://goldenticketawards.com/2019-top-steel/|title=2019 Top Steel|access-date=10 September 2019|year=2019|website=goldenticketawards.com|publisher=Amusement Today, Inc}} When Yukon Striker debuted in 2019, the newspaper named Yukon Striker the fourth Best New Roller Coaster of the year. In the same year, the ride received the Best Innovation Award from Amusement Today for the ride's loose article and transfer system.

{{GTA table

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| accessdate = 10 September 2019

| 2019 = 34

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• 2019 in amusement parks
• List of Canada's Wonderland attractions

{{reflist}}

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• [https://www.canadaswonderland.com/play/rides/yukon-striker Official website]

{{Canada's Wonderland}}

Category:Roller coasters in Ontario

Category:Roller coasters operated by Six Flags