There’s no real way to describe what it’s like to be standing less than ten feet away from an icy track and having a bobsled go by you at 80 miles an hour.
You stand there with your cell phone ready. The announcer says, “He’s coming through the Labyrinth and entering the Chicane. He’s entering the Heart.”
There’s a roaring rattle and a heart pounding vibration as a flash of yellow rounds the curve a hundred feet from where we stood. You push the record button on your cell phone, but it was too late. The bobsled had already gone by! You missed it!
Two or three minutes later you hear the same words from the announcer: “Track’s clear!”
Moments later the second sled is coming closer. When you hear the sound echoing down the track, you hear the announcer say, “He’s entering the Heart.” You start recording before a flash of red goes by. “Wow! I got that one!”
The track is a mile and an eighth in length and it takes less than a minute for the racers to cover that distance. The difference between first and eighth place was a mere 0.55 seconds. Yes — hundredths of a second. That’s close!
This past weekend my wife and I went to Lake Placid to watch the World’s Cup Skeleton and Bobsled races at Mt. VanHoevenberg.
My ski pass at Belleayre Mountain lets me into the races for free. Pat’s ticket was a mere $15 dollars.
I was honestly surprised that there were so few people there. A nearby bystander told us that very few people attend these races in the United States, but in Europe thousands of spectators line the serpentine track to cheer on their favorites. The guy’s daughter was a Canadian competitor in the women’s skeleton event.
So, what’s a skeleton? Some of you might remember those Flexible Flier runner sleds we had when we grew up. We spent many hours racing down the hills.
Well, a skeleton is similar. It’s a one person sled with no handles or steering bar and built much lower to the ice.
The racers steer the sled with slight body movements. The rider pushes the sled across the starting line with all the strength and speed she can muster, then she jumps on face down with her arms at her sides and races down the icy track at about 70 miles an hour.
Out of 29 skeleton riders, Jane Channell, the Canadian racer, finished tenth. Right now she’s 35 years old and living her dream. When she was 13, she and her grandfather were watching the Olympic skeleton races on their television.
Her grandfather asked, “Why would anyone want to do something like that?” But that something was stirring within her, awakening her soul, and Jane replied, “I’m going to do that someday.”
He laughed, but there she was, racing down the track in front of us.
There were several events for both men and women and they were all fast. Thursday was both men and woman’s skeleton races. But Friday was when the bobsleds took to the ice.
First was the Woman’s Monobob followed by the 2-Man Bobsled events. We had planned on staying through Saturday for the 4-Man Bobsled races, but with the late winter storm roaring through the mountains, we headed for home.
We made it, but it was questionable at times. It took us a little over three hours to get to Lake Placid and over six hours to get home. It would have been easier if they had plowed the Northway and salted I-88. I would rate the journey as treacherous to say the least. We were lucky to get home unscathed. We saw several cars that didn’t.
That was our first time attending these events, but it certainly won’t be the last. I wish we had gone a few weeks ago to the World Cup Ski Jumping.
Besides the events at Mt. Van Hoevenberg, the ice rink was alive with the CAN/AM Youth Challenge Cup. Next week I think there are several collegiate hockey tournaments there as well.
We have a world class Olympic facility just a short distance away. Do yourself a favor and journey north. It’s definitely well worth the trip.