![]() ![]() They stand out because they seem so anachronistic, but they meld so well into the background. Wooden coasters are like nice pieces of framed artwork in a museum of technology. Your primary work is wooden coasters, not steel ones. We’re trying to figure out a way to use that to get on his show. We followed his hairline and chin to plan one of our coasters in Holland.ĭoes Jay know about that? No. Once, we were drawing in the office, and a People magazine lying around had a picture of Jay Leno. Where do you draw inspiration from? A lot of places, including seaside roller coasters that run parallel to the beach or jut out on the pier – they have a very distinct shape and feel. We’ll ride them 15 to 20 times to take measurements, and then test them at 3 a.m. The other half of my time is split between traveling the world trying to sell rides and doing the greasy, dirty work of putting cars together on the tracks.ĭo you try out all the coasters yourself? That’s one of the coolest times. Job responsibilities: I spend half my time drafting up proposals and coming up with new layouts and theme concepts. That’s when I decided to dedicate my life to building roller coasters.ĭo you still visit Kings Island? They’re customers of Great Coasters now, and I still get a little bit of that magic when I go back. ![]() I was terrified, and my sister made fun of me. Your first time riding a roller coaster: At age 8, my dad took me to Kings Island in Cincinnati, which was my first time on a big coaster. I thought, to hell with this, I want to make roller coasters. Photo: Scott Rutherfordĭid you have an “aha” moment? At Lexmark, I got a real dose of corporate culture. To this day, my mom still says I dropped out of school. With nine weeks left of my senior year, I packed up my things, drove to California, and finished my degree out there. How did you nail that down? During a college internship, I met the president of Great Coasters, who hired me before I even graduated. Working at Great Coasters was your first job out of college. Morgan Manufacturing, Inc., doing drafting work Previous jobs: Internship at Lexmark, doing inkjet printer experiments internship at D.H. Graduated from: University of Louisville, degree in mechanical engineering Title: VP of Sales and Design, Great Coasters International, Inc. But he does, thousands and thousands of times over. One might not expect the conservative, antisocial Cincinnati engineer – who doesn’t like “neighbors, people, or any of that crap” – to ride roller coasters at 3 a.m. (85.2-foot drop) to the Mountain Flyer in Shenzhen, China (131.2-foot drop). Its work ranges from the Wildcat in Hershey Park, Pa. Great Coasters is the only company in the world that not only designs wooden roller coasters, but also builds them. for 13 years, since even before college graduation with nine weeks left in his senior year, he picked up from school in Kentucky and finished his degree in California, where a job offer waited. Pike has worked at Great Coasters International, Inc. Jeff Pike associates them with rocking chairs. Many people associate roller coasters with fingers squeezed tightly around the cold, hard metal of a lap bar. ![]() Jeff Pike on the Ozark Wildcat at Celebration City in Branson, Missouri. ![]()
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