Skeleton Bobsleigh - the ultimate buzz (Bobsleigh)

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Product:	Bobsleigh
Date:	06/07/00 (220 review reads)
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Advantages: The ultimate buzz

Disadvantages: Can't be done in the UK

Ice sport-training camp at Lillehammer

This was a camp for real adrenaline junkies, sliding down and occasionally into the Olympic bobsleigh track at Lillehammer, Norway.
After reading an article about skeleton sliding (basically head first on what looks like a kids sledge) I contacted the British bobsleigh association who also run skeleton. They invited me to join them with other like-minded nutters at one of the training camps that was to be run during October 99.
The camp is run by the association to identify people with potential to progress onto the British team in the 3 sliding disciplines of Luge, skeleton & bobsleighs.
The first day was spent travelling and meeting everyone for the first time at an evening meeting in the hotel, at this meeting we all introduced ourselves and spoke about our sports background and what discipline we were to do that week. At this point the skeleton instructors almost wet themselves when I stood up, it was pointed out to me that the ideal person for the skeleton is about 5 foot 6 and weighs about 9 stone (I am 6 foot 3 and weigh 18 stone). It was suggested that if I didn’t want to go back in a body bag I should switch to the bobsleigh, I declined of course thinking that it was just a wind up, how wrong I was.
The next day was taken up with equipment issue and setting up the skeleton sleds for each person, the sleds each weigh between 30 & 35 kg run on knife edges and cost about £2000 each, the one that I had was a British airways mark 1 racing sled (which I later found out had a bloody mind of its own), we then went up to the track and walked up the inside (the track from start to finish line is about 1380m long and has an average gradient of 12%) in order to gauge the entry and exit lines that we were to take on each of the 16 bends over the next few days. Our instructor on this walk was the British team coach “Lutz’y” who was originally from East Germany.
The next day was to
be our first day of sliding, which everyone was up for. The first run was from the middle of bend 4, which is approximately one quarter the way down the track; the run was unbelievable, fast and fuelled on adrenaline. The second run was from just before bend 4 at the junior start, again the run was fast, however on this run I felt like a pinball being bounced from wall to wall all along the track unable to see where I was going due to the massive g force pushing my head into the track around the big bends on 6,10,12,13,14 &15. That run hurt like hell and ripped my top to shreds (bouncing of the sidewall is a bit like throwing yourself against a concrete wall at 50mph).
The next day was the big one, where we were due to go from the top of the track for the first time.
The top is very daunting and steep, I went third, convinced that I would be okay as the first 2 had done pretty well. Off I went, very fast to start (60mph through the speed trap) with then I hit every bend wrong, going in very late and being thrown to the top of the wall. It is possible to get away with this at the top of the track, however at the bottom around bend 13 (unlucky for some) I smashed into the wooden boards at the top of the wall (the boards are there to stop people from being thrown completely from the track) headfirst breaking the helmet and visor that I was wearing, I should have a nice little scar were the visor cut my nose. The impact turned the sled over and I travelled through the next bend on my back before I was able to right the sled and finish the correct way up. The medic who stood vulture like at the exit from bend 13 commented on my rather unique technique and on the constant stream of expletives that could be heard.
After the medic patched me up it was once again suggested that I switch to the bobsleigh, this time I accepted the suggestion, as going home in a body bag looked a real possibility.
For the next 3 days I went on the bob, the first run I had was
as the brake man with the GB team reserve driver (in normal life a helicopter pilot in the army air corps) whose normal brake man Neil was himself learning to drive the bob. We went from the top with an all out sprint start, jumping into the bob when running flat out. The speed on that first run was electric, clocked at 80mph and finish time of 56.98 sec.; the g force around the bottom bends was tremendous and could feel the compression on my spine, neck and stomach. I could almost kiss my own arse goodbye as my head was pressed down at about 4.5g. I had another three runs with this driver and a further 6 with some novices which all went well over the next 2 days.
On the last day of sliding after the medic had gone back to the UK I was to act as brake man for Neil who had wiped out the bob the previous day, his normal brake man had declined to take any further part due to injury. All went well up to the exit from bend 10 where we lost it big time; we slid all the way past the bottom of the track up to the finish line and back down to the lowest point on the track at bend 15. All of this with my back and new helmet in contact with the ice, I was lucky as I had heard how good Neil was and managed to borrow some moto-cross body armour from the lads at the top. At this point Neil decided to call it a day, and retired injured. I was then asked if I would act as brakeman for one of the girls.
Amanda (nickname Barbie) had crashed the previous day and put Penny into hospital (concussion and a badly bruised arm). Amanda was a bag of nerves at the top of the track and was persuaded that the best way to overcome a crash was to drive again as soon as possible, again I donned the body armour and assumed my position at the back of the bob, off we went only to crash and turn over at bend 6, and again slid all the way to the bottom of the track. We had won the highest crash competition by a good few bends, had a Polaroid taken which was put up in the hotel with the caption
“Ken and Barbie never again”. That was it, the end of sliding, all that was left to do was to have a monumental knee’s up in Lillehammer.
I had a brilliant time and can’t wait to do it all again next year if I’m invited

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