Bobsledding in Lake Placid (Tracy in middle in pink)
In the “coolness” of 85 degrees outside in the lined pines of the Adirondacks, under a brilliant blue sky with no clouds on May 31st, my husband and I prepared to try a new sport on my list of must-tries -bobsledding! If we were truly doing the on-ice sport, we would be inside Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s Olympic bobsledding track where real-time amateurs train daily, but instead, we were outside on their extensive 3-year old track trying it.
Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham - Sports Adventurer - Lake Placid Mt. Van Hoevenberg
There are only two places in the USA you can try bobsledding so we ventured to Lake Placid about three-and-a-half hours from Syracuse to give it a whirl – or slide – but sometimes it was a whirling feeling. Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run is a venue for bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton located at the Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex. The venue was used for the 1932 and 1980 Olympics and for the only winter Goodwill Games in 2000.
Mt. Van Hoevenberg Bob Sled Track - Outside for Public Use
We were impressed just walking into this beautiful modern facility where we waited to be driven up to the start of the bobsled run. We would return for a full tour of the facilities after our run which made us excited, so we got into an air-conditioned black SUV and were taken to the top of the bobsled run where we easily put on our snug-fitting helmets and sat down in two of three seats with our driver, an experienced staff member, taking the third seat in front. I knew this was a sport I couldn’t actually try on my own due to the 55-mph speed, equipment, and turns, but it was one I wanted to experience for my lifetime sports adventure.
Tracy and Scott Higginbotham about in the bobsled about to take off.
Off we went sliding, or rolling, on a cart built just like a bobsled but with wheels not runners. If you imagine a roller-coaster ride that is more subdued in terms of elevation, but faster in a tube where you run up the sides of the tube and back down, you got bobsled. The ride went by so fast, almost too fast for me, that I wished I could have done it multiple times to get a better sense of the experience. My husband on the other hand, absolutely loved it and high-fived me at the end.
Onto our tour, which I loved more than the actual ride because our tour guide was a woman with a daughter who is training to compete in the biathlon, which is cross-country skiing and shooting a rifle, in a race. There is a perfect biathlon course at Mt. Hoevenberg to try but it wasn’t open the day we were there, or I would have.
Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham seeing what it is like to push a luge
Our guide was so knowledgeable about every part of the course. She accompanied us inside the actual bobsled track used by today’s lugers, skeletoners, and bobsledders where I got on a skeleton/luge – a very heavy one and got in position with my face about two inches off the ground (aka ice) in the same position. WOW, I can’t imagine the grit and guts you need for skeleton where athletes experience the sport face-first, all while tucking their heads down to stay streamlined through the ice path at high speeds with little control since your hands and arms are tucked in and your feet dangle off the back steering the sled.
Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham trying out the skeleton position
She then took us back up to the top of the bobsled run and allowed us to walk down the inside of the real Olympic bobsled tube used in the 1980 Olympics to get a sense of what the curvatures are in the sled and to give us more facts about the entire Mountain, its founder, and the sports held there. It was fascinating and well worth the hour tour to complete our experience.
Overlook of Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s Bobsled Track and Top View
If you don’t have an interest in trying the bobsled or aren’t near a facility, you can always help fund these athletes that don’t get the same amount of sponsorship money as higher-profile sports and athletes. An average sled (luge/skeleton) costs $6,000 and their runners $5,000. They always need money to compete and I say, try to sponsor a female athlete first since they get less money.
1932 Historical Photo of the BobSled Trail where Eleanor Roosevelt tried the sport.
If you ever want to be like former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, you have to try the bobsled as she did in 1932 when the 3rd Olympic Games were held in Lake Placid and FDR was still Governor of New York. Eleanor traveled to Placid to open the games and according to an article in the New York Times, “Mrs. Roosevelt, leather helmet strapped to her head, climbed into a sled driven by Henry Homburger, the Americans' best driver, and was off on a wild ride that may have exceeded 60 mph.”
I know I’ll never be the first lady of New York State but I am like Eleanor Roosevelt in having tried the bobsled, how about you?
