It was either the longest or the shortest 54 seconds of my life. The turns were so fast and furious that my head barely had time to bob around, and I don’t remember breathing until that deep, long gasp when we braked at the end of the ride.
It took longer than 54 seconds for me to be able to stand up straight again after climbing out of the sled, and longer than that for the adrenalin rush to subside.
I rode “The Comet”, the appropriately named bobsled at Olympic Park in Park City, Utah, which reaches speeds up to 80 miles an hour on an iced track. Riders experience 5 G’s of force – that’s more than many military jet pilots face. The ride is a bit slower in summer, when the ice just isn’t as slick. But only a few seconds slower.
Olympic bobsled runs are is at least 1,640 yards (1,500 meters) long and have about 15 or 20 turns, which range from gently banked curves to whiplash switchbacks. The average slope ranges between 8 and 15 percent. The Park City track drops the equivalent of a 40-story building in just under a minute.
You keep your gaze fixed on the helmet in front of you – that helps keep your head upright and steady – and the scenery whizzes past your peripheral vision in a perpetual blur. The driver and brakeman are either professional bobsledders or Olympians in training.
Bobsled rides at Utah’s Olympic Park are $200 per person. You have to be at least 16 and in good health, and reservations are recommended.
The Olympic bobsled track at Lake Placid, New York, also takes passengers. This is a half-mile ride is in a custom-built sled through turns including those called Shady, Labyrinth and The Heart. It costs $65, and you must be at least 12 years old. Again, reservations are recommended.
Both the Park City and Lake Placid facilities train athletes, including in luge and ski jumping as well as bobsledding.
Any ideas on how the sport got its name? From early racers, whose heads bobbed around.
The bobsled was developed in Switzerland in 1897 when a group of vacationers put runners on a toboggan to get greater speed down the famous Cresta Run at St. Moritz. It quickly became popular among British and American visitors. The first sleds were made of wood but were soon replaced by faster steel sleds. Now, the shells are lightweight fiberglass.
Bobsledding has been a part of the Winter Olympic games since their inception in 1924.
Evelyn Kanter - Ever since I fell asleep in the back seat of my parent's car and woke up at my front door, I have thought that travel is a magical ...
