Fred Grubb and Suanne Dedmon founded Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) in 2001 in Idaho, USA. Building on Grubb’s background in general construction, the company began specializing in projects for the themed entertainment industry, including mini golf courses, zoos, and water parks.
RMC built and repaired many wooden roller coasters in the USA. Starting at Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho, where Fred began his career, RMC constructed the park’s Timber Terror and Tremors wooden coasters for Custom Coasters International as well as the Vekoma Aftershock Giant Inverted Boomerang coaster.
They also built the S&S Worldwide Timberhawk: Ride of Prey wooden coaster at Wild Waves Enchanted Village in Washington, USA. Intamin then contracted RMC to build two of its prefabricated wooden coasters, El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, USA, and T Express at Everland in South Korea.
In 2009, legendary coaster designer Alan Schilke partnered with RMC and developed the Iron Horse track (now known as I-Box Track), a steel replacement for re-tracking wooden roller coasters. This led the company to design and build its own roller coasters and, within a few years, become one of the most in-demand coaster manufacturers.
Darren Torr joined RMC in 2020 as president and managing partner, succeeding founder Fred Grubb, before buying the company in late 2021. Two years later, Torr helped negotiate the merger with Larson International to expand RMC’s ride catalog.
Alongside the I-Box track, RMC has developed other track techniques (detailed below) that have revitalized and revolutionized wooden and steel roller coasters alike.
Rocky Mountain Construction’s first roller coaster project was New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas. The project was not a completely new, custom-built RMC coaster. Instead, RMC redesigned and re-tracked the existing Texas Giant wooden coaster to boost its declining popularity. RMC replaced Texas Giant’s wooden track with steel I-Box track and modified most of the support structures.
When New Texas Giant opened in April 2011, it featured three overbanked turns; the coaster’s overall height and tallest drop rose by 10 feet (3m), and the vertical angle increased from 53 ° to 79 °. The changes also increased the coaster’s top speed from 62 mph (100 km/h) to 65 mph (105 km/h).
RMC’s redesign of New Texas Giant consistently appeared in the Golden Ticket Awards’ Top 10 Steel Coasters rankings for years.
Rocky Mountain Construction’s Topper Track consists of six layers of laminated wood and a steel top, equivalent in thickness to two layers of laminated wood (75% wood, 25% steel). Replacing the top two layers of traditional wooden track with steel reduces maintenance costs and guarantees a smooth ride.
Topper Track lets square wooden beams twist, allowing RMC to design layouts with maneuvers not traditionally possible on wooden roller coasters. The Topper Track took four years to develop and debuted on Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City in 2013.
In 2016, RMC manufactured its first coaster with an LSM launch lift hill. Although never confirmed, many believe problems with the LSM launch delayed the opening of Lightning Rod at Dollywood in Tennessee, USA, the first developed by Velocity Magnetics in Pennsylvania, USA. The coaster suffered from extended downtime for several years until 2024, when the lift hill was changed to a chain lift and the topper track was converted to I-Box track.
Fred Grubb revealed RMC’s new Total Ride Experience single rail concept exclusively to CoasterForce in 2015. The huge, steel-fabricated track is designed for large rides like Hyper- or Giga Coasters. Beyond reaching extreme heights, T-Rex track is engineered with longer structural spans to reduce cost and support wider trains for increased capacity.
Unfortunately, the affordability of such a massive coaster limits where one can be built, and no parks have expressed interest in purchasing one. However, the concept led RMC to develop a popular smaller version of the single-rail track (see below).
The Raptor Track is a smaller version of RMC’s T-Rex Track. Raptor Track offers the durability and design benefits of the T-Rex Track, but uses less steel and requires less installation time and space, making it an affordable option for parks of all sizes.
Because the track is narrow, riders sit in a single-file formation, similar to Mack Rides Bobsled vehicles.
The first Raptor Track coaster to open was Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in 2018.
Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster (off-ride) at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, USA
Stunt Pilot at Silverwood Theme Park, USA
Fire Runner at Lost Island Theme Park, USA
RailBlazer at California’s Great America, USA
Two more standard-model Raptor coasters opened before the first variation debuted in 2021 with the Jersey Devil Coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. The compact layout gave way to a more out-and-back design, with a Zero-G Stall and Zero-G Roll replacing the Cutback and Corkscrew inversions.
A similar version opened the following year at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, and the first dueling Raptor coaster debuted with YoY at Walibi Holland in 2025.
Jersey Devil Coaster (on-ride) at Six Flags Great Adventure, USA
Jersey Devil Coaster (off-ride) at Six Flags Great Adventure, USA
YoY (Green side) at Walibi Holland, Netherlands
YoY (Blue side) at Walibi Holland, Netherlands
Although Rocky Mountain Construction manufactures its coaster trains, Gerstlauer built the trains for New Texas Giant and Iron Rattler.
In 2013, Rocky Mountain Construction signed a deal with ride manufacturer Vekoma that lets the Dutch company sell RMC roller coasters outside North America.
In 2014, Alan Schilke’s former employer, S&S Worldwide, agreed with RMC to use a larger version of the I-Box track for its Free Spin 4D coasters, which Schilke also helped design. RMC manufactured the track and built the first one – Batman The Ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. They also manufactured the track for the second, but S&S subcontracted the construction of The Joker at Six Flags Great Adventure. RMC has since subcontracted the track manufacturing for all further S&S Free Spin 4D coasters.
In 2023, RMC announced a merger with amusement ride manufacturer Larson International, adding 15 attractions to the company’s portfolio. Those rides include the Super Shot Drop Tower, Tilt-A-Whirl, Flying Scooters, and the Fireball (aka Larson Loop), along with other spinning and flying rides. As part of the merger, Torr will oversee the combined company, although each company will continue to work from its separate offices in Idaho and Texas.
Rocky Mountain Construction
11470 Carisa Ct.
Hayden, ID 83835
USA
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 2848
Hayden, ID 83835
USA
Phone: +1 208 772 8181
Email: [email protected]
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