Looking off in the distance after another record breaking run.
After a morning full of castles, what could be more perfect than a little: SUMMER LUGE!
For those of you who haven't partaken in Earth's fastest growing sport, Summer Luge (or Alpine Slides as they are called by those in the business) is incredibly fun & addicting! You basically go down a set course as fast as you can! (Paying about 5 Euro per ride.) They can be found at a number of mountains around the world, and are a great way to "stay sharp" for the competitive winter season of regular Luge!
Although not yet an "official" sport in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Christie is talking about bringing her plastic sled over just in-case it is a late edition. (Perhaps straight down the Great Wall?)
Christie is officially a "Luge-aholic" - and had a fantastic time tearing down the mountain with reckless abandon. In technical terms, we like to say that "her lever was always pushed towards GO not STOP." It IS a very technical sport. You ride a chair-lift up the mountain, are given a plastic sled, and do not need to steer: you simple push the lever forward to go faster, and pull back to break.
Christie came in first with a time of 1:45 and an average speed of 56 km/hr. I was just behind her with a time of 1:45.000001 and an average speed of 55.99999 km/hr.
Infamous turn 17 - and site of the unfortunate "Mishap of '64" where a number of people scraped elbows. Doesn't the concrete slide resemble a silver snake built for speed? OK, I'm getting a little carried away with all of this...
For those of you curious about how officials would react to my own "checkered alpine slide history" - I was very careful to follow all rules and start times. Lucky for me, European Alpine Slides don't communicate very well with their Western candidates, and I was allowed to go down! (Allegedly, in the summer of 2001, Jason Johnson crashed into an unknown 5 year old girl on an Alpine Slide in Denver while racing his sister and going approximately 50 km/hr on his sled. No one was hurt, although the girl still walks with a slight limp...)
~ J. Twice
3 comments:
OK, now that looks REALLY cool. One of the regrets of my experiences covering the Winter Olympics is that I haven't yet found a way to get a ride down a bobsled run. (Not sure I'd really want to try the winter luge.)
"YOU GET OUTTA HERE RIGHT NOW!"
-Owner of the luge track in Denver,2001-
LOL
I never will forget that blessed victory...I remember cruising around that last bend to look in your lane and see the 5 year old girl puttering down at a snails pace in front of you, and by the time you saw her, it was a moment too late....as you crashed into her back and her and her sled crashed onto your lap. And I rolled in first for VICTORY!!!! THANK YOU LIMPY LUCY!
~H
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