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TLC for rides made from trees

By MOLLY LINN
mollylinn@sanduskyregister.com

SANDUSKY - It's 6 a.m.

Brad Sumser is 161 feet in the air climbing across the wooden skeleton of the Mean Streak.

Sumser isn't in the middle of a nightmare about heights, he's just doing his job.

Every morning after one big cup of coffee on his way to work, Sumser spends 3 to 4 hours a day harnessed to some of the largest jungle gyms in the world. Sumser is a wooden roller coaster carpenter.

Clearly, the 30 year-old Sumser isn't bothered by heights. But, the safety harness, updated just this year, provides some technical comfort when he's climbing across scaffolding to reach portions of the track.

Sumser said any close call he's ever had, has been a false alarm. "Every once in a while your depth perception miscalculates and a step is 2 inches further down than you thought it was. All the sudden your heart is pounding and it suddenly occurs to you-- I'm more than 100 feet in the air with a harness between me and the ground," he said.

"The biggest occupational hazards are the splinters, not the heights."

During his daily inspections, Sumser finds the occasional loose board or broken track bolt. He's been walking the Mean Streak for seven years and knows exactly what to look for and where to look.

"Every part of the ride pass is looked at. The track's steel rail and wood planks below it," Sumser said.

The most frequent repairs are to planks on the "ride pass" -- the area where the steel rail that the coaster's train runs on is attached.

To make repairs, Sumser carries a tool belt with more than 15 pounds of gear including: Nuts, bolts, washers, nails, bolts, hammer, chisel, vice grips and a tape measure.

Despite the park's busiest season being the summer, Sumser's longest hours come in the winter and spring when carpenters and engineers are prepping and testing the rides for guests before the park opens.

All of the wooden coasters at Cedar Point were built with pressure and chemically treated wood designed to withstand snow and below-freezing temperatures in the winter and lake winds.

"Nothing lasts forever, so things do need to be replaced here and there," he said.

To determine what boards need to be replaced, Cedar Point relies on GMH Engineering to run diagnostic tests on all the park's roller coasters, according to park spokesman Tony Clark.

GMH collects data about the G forces the coaster rider experiences and the stress coaster trains exert on the coaster's structural frame. From this data GMH engineers, park mechanics and maintenance engineers determine what parts of the coasters need maintenance, repair or board replacement.

That's when Sumser and fellow carpenters climb the coasters in below freezing temperatures to replace lengths of track that take four men to carry and torque every bolt and screw.

By the time the park opens in May, rides like the Mean Streak have been fine-tuned right down to the last jolt and jerk by carpenters like Sumser.

The job is physically demanding. Sumser climbs millions of stairs a year and must have enough upper body strength to support himself often one-handed to safely reach loose boards, but Sumser can't see doing other kinds of carpentry.

"As long as Cedar Point is here, I'll be here," he said.

Cedar Point's Mean Streak is inspected in the early morning hours every day before the park opens. Register photo/ABIGAIL BOBROW

Brad Sumser, 30, of Sandusky, balances on the Mean Streak's structure to look for any potential problems. Register photo/ABIGAIL BOBROW

The power box for the Mean Streak is secured with locks while workers are inspecting the coaster. Register photo/ABIGAIL BOBROW

The intricate wooden structure and tracks on the Mean Streak are inspected every morning before the park opens. Register photo/ABIGAIL BOBROW

Brad Sumser, 30, of Sandusky, inspects the tracks on Cedar Point's Mean Streak. Register photo/ABIGAIL BOBROW

Cedar Point legend has it that someone working on the Mean Streak carved his children's names in some of the beams. Register photo/ABIGAIL BOBROW

FunCoast.com is your online guide to summer fun for Cedar Point, the LakeErie Islands and Sandusky area. Our site offers up-to-date information on area attractions, restaurants, hotels, gasoline prices, ferry schedules, swimming, birding and fishing, along with a complete listing of events happening in the Sandusky/Cedar Point area. To use our Webcam and zoom in on Cedar Point's rollercoasters, go to http://funcam.funcoast.com