The Alpine Bobsled at The Great Escape was fun while it lasted.

At the time it first arrived at the Great Escape amusement park, the Alpine Bobsled was a very cool concept (no pun intended). It replicated the twists and turns of riding in a bobsled – which, with Lake Placid just a couple of hours away, was a nice tie-in with the Adirondacks and the Winter Olympics. It even had cars that were painted with the colors of various Olympic teams.

Here’s what the ride looked like from a POV perspective.

The Alpine Bobsled was added to the Great Escape in 1998, after serving time at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey (as the Sarajevo Bobsled), and later ran for a few years at Six Flags Great America in Illinois (as Rolling Thunder). When the ride was in operation, the Intamin-crafted coaster was quite the adventure.

Note that I said “when the ride was in operation.” Because more often than not, the Alpine Bobsled was a finicky beast. While many roller coasters could operate in less-than-ideal weather conditions, the Alpine Bobsled would close if there was rain in the forecast. And even in that embedded video above, you can see plenty of rust spots on the tracks – and that video was prepared EIGHT YEARS AGO.

The Great Escape is removing Alpine Bobsled to make room for a new wooden roller coast, the Bobcat, which could appear at the park in time for the 2024 season. While the prospect of two wooden coasters at the Great Escape is extremely enticing – heck, if they can make a second coaster to rival the Comet, I’d be impressed in that – I’m actually not sad about the Alpine Bobsled’s removal.

I get it. Amusement parks need to evolve. They need new rides and new attractions to bring the crowds back every season. And it made no sense to pay the very expensive admission price (and parking) to The Great Escape, just to find out the Alpine Bobsled wasn’t operational due to weather or some other operational glitch. It was almost like saying, “Hey, I’m here, just look at me on your way to the much more dependable Comet ride.”

So yesterday, the Alpine Bobsled had its final runs. And some people posted video of their ride on the coaster. Because of course they did.

And although you can see that at some point in the past eight years the ride got a fresh coat of paint, you can also see the years of tire wear and scrapes along the ride’s trackless curves. This coaster definitely saw better years. And after a nearly 40-year run through three different Great Escape parks, the Alpine Bobsled will be disassembled.

In the end, I hope they at least save the cars for some sort of Great Escape history exhibit at the park. That would be nice.

But in the end, the ride was fun while it lasted. When it worked.

And whatever replaces the Alpine Bobsled in the future … all I ask is that it’s dependable and that it works. Every time. When possible.

Give me that, and I’ll be happy.