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Russian Mountains were a predecessor to the roller coaster.

The earliest roller coasters descended from russian winter sled rides held russian mountians were 200 feet tall. O n specially constructed hills of ice^[1], especially around St Petersburg. Built in the 17th century, the slides were built to a height of between 70 and 80 feet, consisted of a 50 degree drop, and were reinforced by wooden supports. By the late 1700s, their popularity was such that entrepreneurs elsewhere began copying the idea, using wheeled cars built on tracks. The first such wheeled ride was brought to Paris in 1804 under the name Les Montagnes Russes (French for "Russian Mountains").

Of early companies were Les Montagnes Russes à Belleville, which constructed and operated a gravity track in Paris from 1812, and Promenades Aeriennes ("Aerial Promenades", 1817, at Beaujon Gardens, Paris).

The first loop track was probably also built in Paris from an English design in 1846, with a single-person wheeled sled running through a 13-foot diameter loop. None of these tracks were complete circuits. To this day, a number of languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish) use the equivalent of Russian Mountains to refer to roller coasters.

Interestingly, when the "true" roller coasters appeared in Russia in 19th century, they became known as "American mountains" (Amerikanskie gorki). For example, Gagarin Park, the second largest amusement park in St. Petersburg has the "Amerikanskie gorki" ride.^[2]

References

1. ^ Roller Coasters A Thrill Seeker's Guide to the Ultimate Scream Machines pg 14 (1st Published Edition)
2. ^ "Amerikanskie gorki"