# How do you start skeleton

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-start-skeleton/808911>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [February 16, 2018, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-start-skeleton/808911 "2018-02-16T03:27:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-start-skeleton/808911/21 "2018-02-16T23:53:31Z")

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I lived in upstate New York an hour or so south of Lake Placid in the early-mid 80s. I went up to the Olympic facility once, walked around the (outdoor!) speed skating oval where Eric Heiden won all those medals, saw people training on the ski jumping hills (no snow, they were skiing down some sort of artificial surface). In those days you could just sign up for luge lessons, or just to take a ride (presumably from a lower start point). I really regret that I didn’t give it a go. Don’t know if there was skeleton in those days…

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-start-skeleton/808911/22 "2018-02-17T01:58:33Z")

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> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#):
>
> I lived in upstate New York an hour or so south of Lake Placid in the early-mid 80s. I went up to the Olympic facility once, walked around the (outdoor!) speed skating oval where Eric Heiden won all those medals, saw people training on the ski jumping hills (no snow, they were skiing down some sort of artificial surface). In those days you could just sign up for luge lessons, or just to take a ride (presumably from a lower start point). I really regret that I didn’t give it a go. Don’t know if there was skeleton in those days…

I’ve been there too; maybe about 10 years ago. You could take a ride, but the sled wasn’t anything like a real luge. It was almost like a shallow, padded bathtub with runners underneath and a roll cage. How you get started with a proper skeleton (or luge, or bobsled), the kind you can steer and everything, I’m not sure.

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**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-start-skeleton/808911/23 "2018-02-18T19:15:00Z")

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With a skeleton key.

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-start-skeleton/808911/24 "2018-02-18T20:53:51Z")

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Win.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-start-skeleton/808911/25 "2018-02-18T20:58:16Z")

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Vroom shackalackalacka  
Vroom shackalackalacka

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