Vuoristorata is a classic wooden roller coaster located at the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland. It was built in the winter of 1950 by Linnanmäki's staff on the basis of drawings by the Danish builder Valdemar Lebech. The construction work was led by the Danish ride operator Svend Jarlström, who at the time owned most of Linnanmäki's rides. Vuoristorata was opened on 13 July 1951, and at the time, was the largest roller coaster in the Nordic countries. Expected to last up to 15 years, it was originally designed as a temporary attraction for the amusement park, opened in 1950. One of the main reasons for its construction was to attract tourists from the 1952 Summer Olympics held in the city. Since then, its temporary status was renewed for extended periods, until it was eventually regarded as a permanent structure.
Since its opening in 1951, Vuoristorata has been the most popular ride at Linnanmäki every year. It is the most famous amusement ride in Finland, and a symbol of the Linnanmäki park; even the old park logo had a shape representing the ascents and descents of Vuoristorata. Vuoristorata has never had a name other than the common noun used for roller coasters; Vuoristorata simply means "roller coaster" in Finnish (lit. vuoristo = mountain range, rata = track; mountain range track).
Vuoristorata is notable for being the last built roller coaster in the world to use side friction technology. It is a copy of another roller coaster, Rutschebanen, opened in 1932 at Dyrehavsbakken in Denmark. Valdemar Lebech, who designed both of these and a few other tracks, simply took the original blueprints of Rutschebanen, which had been downscaled due to changes in location, and designed Vuoristorata. Back in the 1950s, Rutschebanen and Vuoristorata were the two tallest roller coasters in Europe; Vuoristorata is slightly taller and longer of the two.Vuoristorata is one of only seven roller coasters in the world that are still operated by brakemen, including five others in Europe and one in Australia. From June 2021, Linnanmäki has switched to gender-neutral job titles, as a result of which the former title "brakeman" (Finnish: jarrumies) is now called the "brakemaster" (jarrumestari). During the 2021 season, 16 people worked as brakemasters, including one female.Over the decades, Vuoristorata has been carefully maintained. To ensure safety, all the wooden parts have been gradually replaced at least five times. All that remains of the original structure from the 1950s are the oak-framed wooden cars. In order to preserve the original layout, subsequent restorations have been carried out carefully; although all the wooden parts are replacements, they are consistent with the original design and character of the track.Vuoristorata is among the few roller coasters in the world to have been awarded the ACE Coaster Classic status by the American Coaster Enthusiasts.
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