Nemesis (roller coaster)

In 1990, Alton Towers added the Thunder Looper roller coaster; the addition was only temporary due to planning restrictions imposed on its installation.[3][4] The park began planning for a new roller coaster on unused land adjacent to Thunder Looper.[5] They desired a roller coaster that was big, different, and exciting. But they were constrained by the tree-level height limit imposed on the park.[6]

One of Nemesis' trains exiting the first corkscrew (2006)

Alton Towers approached Arrow Dynamics for the new roller coaster. The Utah-based company was working on a prototype of a pipeline roller coaster, similar to TOGO's Ultratwister design.[6] John Wardley proposed the concept for a ride themed as a secret military weapon, codenamed "Secret Weapon".[5] Due to the design of the ride and the height restriction imposed on the park, the Secret Weapon would only have a track length of 300 metres (980 ft). A year later, a revised layout was drawn up, dubbed "Secret Weapon 2". Rock blasting was used to excavate space for the planned ride.[6] However, the Arrow pipeline project was cancelled when Wardley rode the prototype, describing how it was "very slow (and rather boring), looked cumbersome, and was very energy inefficient". The park began to look for an alternative.[5][6]

Tussauds became aware of a new roller coaster model being built by Bolliger & Mabillard at Six Flags Great America and entered into discussions with Six Flags, who agreed to privately disclose information about the new ride.[6] Jim Wintrode, the general manager of Six Flags Great America at the time, proposed the concept of an inverted roller coaster that featured inversions and worked with Bolliger & Mabillard to develop Batman: The Ride.[7][8] Tussauds directors rode Batman: The Ride prior to its May 1992 opening and wanted to add a similar ride to Alton Towers.[6][9]

The inverted roller coaster, now dubbed "Secret Weapon 3", was planned throughout 1992. Wardley and Nick Varney, marketing director of Alton Towers, came up with the theme for "Nemesis" as an alien creature excavated from the ground.[6] According to Wardley, the ride's name was conceived one evening after himself and Nick Varney drank a bottle of Southern Comfort.[10] Wardley drafted the ride layout, from which the coaster was designed by Werner Stengel. Tussauds collaborated with a landscape architect to design the excavated area and create a ride that could be exciting for both riders and non-riders – the final inversion was built at the eye level of an observer, and the queue winds all the way around the track.[2][6]

The £10 million Nemesis officially opened to the public on 19 March 1994, following a soft opening three days prior.[2][1] It opened as one of the first Bolliger & Mabillard rides to be installed outside of the United States, along with Diavlo at Himeji Central Park, Japan, which opened four months later.[11]

In August 2004, Nemesis gained the Guinness World Record for the "Most Naked People on a Rollercoaster". The ride set the record at 32 riders – the number of seats on a single Nemesis train.[12] It took the record from Thorpe Park's Nemesis Inferno roller coaster which set the record at 28 just three months prior.[13][14] The ride lost the record in 2010 when 40 naked riders boarded Green Scream Rollercoaster at Adventure Island.[15]

In 2009, Alton Towers received several complaints from nearby residents regarding increased noise levels emitted from the ride. New wheels had to be installed on the two trains before the ride returned to normal operation.[16]

Sign announcing the closure of Nemesis in October 2022

In January 2022, Alton Towers submitted a successful application proposing that the majority of the roller coaster be retracked for maintenance reasons, including replacing 89 of the 117 support columns.[17] Nemesis closed for the refurbishment on the 6 November 2022,[18] and is scheduled to reopen in 2024.[19]

On 25 April 2023, Alton Towers released a video showcasing the new Nemesis track.[20] It is black with red veins along the side. The Nemesis Observation Platform opened on 26 April, revealing a view of the retracking. Nemesis went vertical the same day. Another video was released on the 27 April showing the Phalanx-branded vehicles transporting the track to the resort.[21] During the refurbishment, Alton Towers built an observation platform next to Nemesis: Sub-Terra allowing up to 30 park guests at a time to view the construction taking place.[22]

On 26 September 2023, the new red and black colour scheme of the trains were revealed.[23]