Is there a mechanism by which I, a layman, can enjoy the thrill of bobsledding? Are there disused trakcs in Salt Lake City, Lake Placid, etc. where one can pay a fee and get taken down the track by a professional, with safety protocols in place?
Further to this discussion, how pay-to-play use of the ski jump? Or is the risk of plunging to one’s death too great for amateurs?
related thread:
Brian
Just find any ski jumping program and start with the training jumps. It’s not particularly dangerous since you’re barely off the snow.
Moving to The Game Room from GQ.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
You can (or at least used to) do this at Lake Placid too. I did it when I was training there for Luge and it was a fantastic ride. A lot of fun - not nearly as fast as during competition - but fast enough, that’s for sure. You really get a sense for the speed, noise and vibration that doesn’t come across on TV.
A few years back I took a ride in a one man roller bobsled down the SLC track in the summer.
Pretty dang fun.
Around 10 years ago they came to town looking for people to train as bobsled pushers. They had a roller track setup for people to be timed on. I thought about doing it for fun but did not.
I did that in Lake Placid, in a two-person sled. They wouldn’t let me drive, which would have been the fun part, for me.
But I do get to say that I was on part of the old track, the one used for the '32 and '80 Olympics.