He walked the uneven terrain, stooping down occasionally to set another marker, in what was becoming the centerline for the first all-wooden roller coaster to be constructed at 101-year-old Quassy Amusement Park on Route 64.

After pouring over a number of designs submitted by various manufacturers from throughout the world, Quassy's owners decided that Mr. Kiepert and his team from The Gravity Group, of Cincinnati, Ohio, would be awarded the contract to build the new marquee attraction.

"We considered a number of proposals, including all steel, a combination of steel and wood, and an all wooden coaster," said Eric Anderson, a Quassy co-owner. "This process had been going on for a couple of years, because it became apparent that we needed to consider investing in the future of the property with a roller coaster."

The ride the park actually selected was the second proposal presented by The Gravity Group.

"They [The Gravity Group] really put it all together with the second plan," said George Frantzis, II, another Quassy owner. "We needed a strong family ride to replace our aging steel family coaster, yet it had to fit into a tight space without compromising the tree lines and our spacious athletic field. This design really accomplishes everything."

The new, yet unnamed, roller coaster will replace the Mad Mouse, also known as the Monster, a steel coaster that has been operating at Quassy since 1983.

The Mad Mouse, located near the lakefront upon entering the park, may be sold to another operator or simply sent to the scrap yard.

Its replacement will not be at the same location, but constructed along the old paved entrance to the park and proceed along one end of the field near the Grand Carousel.

The new roller coaster at Quassy will top off at 35 feet and have 1,200 feet of track. The total drop of the ride will be around 45 feet as it continues its course behind the park's Grand Carousel.

"We were able to play with the topography and make it feel like a 45-foot instead of a 35-foot coaster," Mr. Kiepert said. "It will be the first coaster for young children to ride - enjoyable for the whole family from grandparents on down."

In the case of the Quassy coaster, Mr. Kiepert says bigger isn't necessarily always better.

"This will be a laugh-out-loud ride for the family, but perhaps a white-knuckler for a youngster," he said. "There will be eight to nine airtime hops and a number of unique features."

The coaster will cross over the park's railroad track twice, adding to the excitement for guests on both rides. The modern-day engineering also allows the coaster to have lower and steeper turns, taking it into a "more dynamic area."

"This ride should be exciting and very smooth with a top speed of 35 mph," he said. "Of course, wood is a material that absorbs sound and the wood structure and track will certainly do that.

"People like to rate rides and put numbers on them. But if it puts smiles on faces and people want to ride it again and again, it's a success. This ride will absolutely do that."

"I like every coaster I've ever been a part of, and I have to," said Mr. Kiepert, 34, one of four engineers at The Gravity Group. "If you can bring an attraction to a park that people want to ride again and again, it's a success. That is what we do."

He has been to Quassy Amusement Park twice in recent years, with his latest visit in the summer of 2008, to survey and stake out the proposed ride.

Mr. Kiepert's interest in building roller coasters dates back to his childhood in the Detroit, Mich. area.

"I got a Darda racetrack for Christmas and you could make an endless variety of track configurations so the cars would jump and go upside-down," he said. "I actually built a little amusement park in my closet when I was young."

Every summer the Kiepert family would visit Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, known as the roller coaster capital of the world, where Mr. Kiepert could experience the genuine thrills of his boyhood hobby.

After obtaining his master's degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University, he was hired in 1999 by Custom Coasters in Cincinnati, one of the premiere wooden roller coaster builders of the time.

It was there that he met fellow engineers Chad Miller, Larry Bill and Mike Graham.

"Custom Coasters had seven rides going up that year and were in need of engineering help," Mr. Kiepert said of his first job in the industry. "I came in and helped check drawings and do analysis on structures."

But the career at Custom Coasters was short-lived, as the firm closed in 2002.

The four engineers did not want to throw in the towel on their capability to design these classic thrill rides, so they continued to work as a group out of their homes, doing mostly small projects.

"That was really the start of The Gravity Group," said Mr. Kiepert. "Our first big project came in 2003 when we took on Hades, a big coaster for Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells."

The ride, with more than 4,700 feet of track, took 18 months to construct. "The unique thing is that Hades has a 700-foot tunnel under the parking lot," he said of the mammoth venture.

Since then, the partnership has created four other large projects, including the first wooden roller coaster to be built in China, which is currently under construction at Happy Valley.

Last year, The Gravity Group opened the Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer Park in Erie, Pa., to rave reviews from coaster enthusiasts and industry insiders alike.

The ride crosses a four-lane highway twice and provides an incredible view of Lake Erie before taking its first drop of 120 feet.

The largest coaster the company has designed is The Voyage at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Ind. With 1.2 miles of track, the ride has three drops of more than 100 feet and reaches speeds of 67 miles per hour.

The design of wooden roller coasters has changed dramatically over the past few decades with the advent of computer programs that assist engineers.

"Early coasters used to have just a couple of drawings in their plan," Mr. Kiepert said of the technology change. "Over time, we got to the point where there was so much more analysis - even at Custom Coasters.

"Now we know in advance where the holes for bolts in the structure are going to be and how things are going to precisely line up."

Computer programs allow designers to incorporate more interaction on the ride as well.

On Quassy's proposed coaster, several different center lines were presented to the park owners. Those presentations also included a quantity of animations as well, such as virtual rides from a number of angles.

"We can optimize things like airtime on the ride as computers allow us to design the best coaster possible," said Mr. Kiepert. "The four of us [engineers] work very much as a team and we each critique the ride.

"Seeing it through different eyes makes a better end product."

As for constructing wooden roller coasters, Mr. Kiepert has a theory about the rides his firm designs.

"Wooden coasters in general are not about gimmicks," he said. "Often times an all-steel coaster is trying to do something with a different gimmick, like lying on your belly or having your feet dangle.

"We talk about important issues like how does the ride flow, the airtime - which I love - and the out of control feeling you get on a wooden coaster."

Mr. Kiepert is quick to admit he has two favorites among classic, old wooden roller coasters, and both are located in Pennsylvania. They are The Blue Streak (1938) at Conneaut Lake Park, Conneaut Lake and the Racer (1927) at Kennywood in West Mifflin.

Wooden roller coasters had a heyday in the 1920s and 1930s, when there were more than 1,000 operating in the nation.

"Today, it's just in the hundreds, but they are making a renaissance," he said. "Every park really needs a wooden roller coaster and from a historical viewpoint, they are seen as a family ride.

"Grandparents who visit amusement parks today will generally comment about riding roller coasters when they were younger and this nostalgia brings families together.

"It's like Quassy and its history as a trolley park. Many trolley parks had wooden roller coasters and having something as nostalgic as a wooden coaster will be a tribute to Quassy and to the bygone days of the trolley as well.

He admired industry icon John Miller, who was a pioneer in roller coaster technology in the early 1900s. Mr. Miller held more than 100 patents associated with roller coaster safety devices and designed more than 60 roller coasters before his death in 1941.

Mr. Kiepert lives in the Cincinnati area with his wife, Adrienne, and two daughters, Kaitlyn, 4, and Natalie, 3.

"I'm excited to see where this ride will take Quassy Amusement Park as the property enters its second century of operation," said Mr. Kiepert.