Shoot-the-Chutes

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Snake River Falls at Cedar Point

Shoot-the-Chutes is an amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a flume into a lagoon. The bottom of the flume curves upwards, causing the boat to skip across the water until it comes to a stop. Paul Boyton and Thomas Polk invented the earliest example in 1895 for Sea Lion Park at Coney Island. Crescent Park in Riverside, R.I. was the site of a famous Shoot-the-Chutes in the early 1900's.

While the ride is largely obsolete, an operating modern reproduction, The Pittsburg [sic] Plunge is currently in operation at Kennywood. Modern log flumes work on similar principles.

The Shoot-the-Chute concept has evolved over time in the amusement park industry. All modern Shoot-the-Chute rides today feature a guide track after the descent down the chute into the pool of water that allows the boats to return to the loading platform -- completing a closed circuit track. Most modern Shoot-the-Chute rides usually consist of (though not limited to) an oval shaped layout or a figure-eight layout.

The most technologically advanced ride based on the Shoot-the-Chute concept is the Perilous Plunge at Knott's Berry Farm. It is presently the tallest and steepest water flume ride in the world. 24-passenger boats climb a 121-foot (36.8 m) lift-hill, round a curve, and descend a 115-foot (35 m) water chute at a staggering 77.8 degree slope. Upon landing below in the lagoon below, each of the ride's three seven-ton boats are capable of generating an amazing 180-degree, 45-foot (13.7 m) high splash that drenches riders as well as spectators standing on an observation bridge overlooking the ride.