The California ski season just keeps getting better, with multiple resorts reporting their snowiest seasons in history.
And the Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows resort in the Lake Tahoe area has now gotten so much snow (it just reached the 700-inch mark) that its CEO announced Saturday they might not close the mountain at all this year … More
Suspense, high speed, and winter sport in a classical style that’s Natural track luge.
Unlike artificial luge tracks, natural tracks are adapted from existing mountain roads and paths. Artificially banked curves are not permitted. The track’s surface must be horizontal. As the use of artificial refrigeration is forbidden, they are naturally iced. Natural track luge requires a completely different technique than on an artificial track. At the start, the athletes gain momentum by “paddling”, dragging their hands on the ice to move forward. In order to drive around the tight flat corners, athletes use a steering rein, drag their hands and use their legs. Braking is often required in front of curves and is accomplished by the use of spikes built on the bottom of the shoes. At the finish line, hundredths of a second decide over victory or defeat.
What happens when an Olympian takes up the sport of tobogganing? World records, that’s what.
If you didn’t know who Eddie the Eagle Edwards was before, you most certainly should now – the Hollywood biopic about his life, starring Hugh Jackman, has now been released worldwide. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, we’ll give you the basics: a construction worker from England realises his only chance at the Olympics is by entering as Britain’s only ski jumper, a sport he’s never done before – and a dangerous one at that.
But this video isn’t about the Hugh Jackman, the movie, or even about ski-jumping. It’s about tobaggan-jumping – and Eddie the Eagle is the new (and only) world record-holder.