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Luge track to leave lasting legacies

Facility promotes Whistler and the sliding sports Did you ever think your granny could hurtle down a luge track, experiencing G forces as she whipped around corners? Her thinning blue hair would be blowing in the wind.

Facility promotes Whistler and the sliding sports

Did you ever think your granny could hurtle down a luge track, experiencing G forces as she whipped around corners?

Her thinning blue hair would be blowing in the wind. Her wrinkly face would be as smooth as a baby’s bum, briefly. And her knitting would be long forgotten as she blazes an icy vertical trail.

Well, one day she might be doing just that in Whistler. Gramps might even strap on a helmet and jump on board too.

At the bob/luge track in Calgary, site of the 1988 Winter Olympics, grannies and kids frequently barrel down a vertical drop of 123 metres at almost 100 kilometres per hour.

It’s called the fastest minute of your life.

"We had people from all walks of life, from 70-yer-old women to nine year old boys," said Tim Farstad, who once worked at the Calgary luge track.

"People loved it."

Farstad is now the program co-ordinator for the Olympic Luge Training Centre/Canadian Luge Association. He says a luge track in Whistler could do wonders for the sport, as it has in Calgary.

"It’s the best thing we could hope for," he said.

The Olympic Bid Corp. has picked the Base II area of Blackcomb as the home for the new Whistler Sliding Centre for the 2010 Olympic Games. The facility will house the luge, bobsleigh and skeleton events, assuming the bid is successful.

Doug Forseth, senior vice president of operations for Whistler-Blackcomb, said the company would not receive compensation if the track is built on Blackcomb.

"We have agreed to let that be developed should we be fortunate enough to win the bid," Forseth said.

"It is just an enhancement for the Games and a legacy for the village of Whistler. We will not operate it, we are just allowing it to be developed there."

"What you have to do is work with the contours," said Sam Corea, director, media relations for the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation.

"(The site) has enough of the twists and turns to make sure there’s challenge involved for the sport."

Along with the excellent mountain terrain for the track, the Blackcomb site is also a prime location because of the easy access to the village.

"It’s quite visible to people in the village" said Corea.

"There was discussion of maybe having it in the Callaghan Valley but again that’s not really on the beaten track. It’s more hidden.

"This one provides more exposure and wide accessibility to people."

About 20,000 people whiz down the Calgary track on annual basis. That includes bob, luge and skeleton athletes as well as recreational riders throughout the year.

Canada Olympic Park is also home to Canada’s Olympic Luge development program.

"During the winter season we’ve got the high performance athletes from the development level up to the Olympians on it every day almost, so the recreational rides become a little bit more limited," said Chris Dornan, communications specialist for Canadian Olympic Development Association.

But in the summer time the ice comes out and the summer bobsleigh, the Road Rocket, which is on wheels, assumes a spot on the track.

"It’s a specially designed sled that goes down the track in the summertime. So there’s a lot of recreational rides at that time of year" he said.

Tourist rides on luge tracks generally range between $40 and $120. For example, the Road Rocket costs $45 whereas the bobsleigh ride, the Bobsleigh Bullet, which comes complete with a driver and brakeman, is $120.

In addition to the tourist dollars that will likely flow into the Whistler centre after the Games, a new track in North America may breathe life into the three sliding sports.

Farstad points to the legacies in Canadian luge since the track was built in Calgary.

"There wouldn’t be much luge in Calgary if it wasn’t for the track because we’re a facility-based sport," he said.

"(The athletes) have to be on the track to get to that (Olympic) level."

Another Canadian track could potentially double the number of people training.

Having a track in Whistler will also create a North American circuit encompassing four tracks. Those tracks are in Lake Placid, New York, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Calgary.

"There’s the potential for holding annual World Cups in the sliding sports that would be a lasting legacy for training the next generation of Canadian athletes," said Corea.

"We are a skiing culture and skating culture so these (sliding) sports are not the most focused sports here in British Columbia. By having these tracks located here that would help create new opportunities for young athletes."

As part of the Olympic LegaciesNow program, Todd Allison has been taking the sliding sports to a grassroots level in B.C. for over a year, targeting sport development for the Olympics and Paralympics.

Part of his job as general manager of the TELUS Whistler Sports Centre is testing teens who might show a knack for one of the sliding sports, either luge, bobsleigh or skeleton.

He found two rugby players (a male and a female) at Simon Fraser University, out of 300 people, and has sent them to development camps in Calgary to practice bobsleigh.

"We’re tired of sending B.C. kids to Calgary. We want to send them to Whistler," said Allison.

"If we had the hope of having a track here we could have B.C. athletes lining up to be on the team instead of going out to recruit."

The sport has yet to really capture the North American audience in the same way it enthrals the Europeans. The avid following in Europe is due in part to the tradition of the sports there.

Luge began in Switzerland in the late 1800s and spread throughout the Alps.

There is a huge following in Europe for both televised and live events.

Whereas in Canada luge competitions are shown on the Outdoor Life Channel, Speedvision TV Network or sometimes on TSN, in Europe they are broadcast on primetime TV.

This can have big economic ramifications for Whistler if Vancouver wins the bid, said John Mills, president of CODA.

He said the sliding sports have terrific appeal in Europe.

"From a Whistler perspective that means that Whistler Mountain is on European television non-stop through the winter months and it’s basically a commercial for the resort every time there’s a race broadcast."

This will help promote the resort long after the 2010 Games have come and gone, he said.

Construction of the track is due to begin in 2006 and take two years to complete, according to the mini-Bid Book.

The centre will be able to house about 12,000 spectators in seated and standing positions.

It will cost $34.2 million US, which will come from the $620 million Cdn federal/provincial sports infrastructure budget.

"The bob/luge track is one of the ones that would have an endowment put in to operate post Games, to help it keep going until you get the revenue stream coming," said Corea. He added that: "$110 million has been set aside in endowments funds for these facilities."

The Calgary track was also given endowment funds following the ’88 Olympics.

"It doesn’t generate enough (money) in tourist rides to offset the costs of high performance sport," said Mills.

"That’s why we were given the legacy funds following the Calgary Olympics in order to sustain those facilities."

Mills said the track is expensive to maintain. It has to be refrigerated in the winter and the ice must be scraped from top to bottom to make sure it’s safe.

"It’s labour intensive," he said. "There’s no question about that."

But Whistler might be a different story, he said.

"I think you would probably do better in Whistler just because the number of hotels within close proximity," he said.

"It would be a novelty for the visitors, I’m sure."

There is a lot of potential to market the track in Whistler.

"Your have to market it correctly to make sure that you’re going to get that revenue potential out of it," said Corea.

One thing is for certain, said Mills.

"Everyone’s going to want to do it.

"There’s no question that everyone in Whistler, once the Games are over, is going to want to have a sticker on the back of their car that says they rode the Olympic track."