Its a few posts back now but I tried Skeleton at the Whistler sliding track something over a year ago. Since then I've been sliding pretty much as often as I can though that has mostly been only about one weekend per month in the winter season.
I've slowly become better at it and I've been moving higher up the track as the coach has decided that I'm ready. There are about four of us in a cohort that have been progressing together and there is another newer group of sliders who are coming up behind us too.
Here I am at 120Kmh in the bottom corner pulling about 3.5G...(my form is terrible by the way... I should have my shoulders down on the sled not up in the air)... Its really hard to take a good picture of someone moving at 120Kmh in a confined space! this shot was taken by a professional photographer named Adam Taber... he has some great shots of sliders and other stuff at: http://www.adamtaberphotography.ca
The Whistler track is long and steep (1450m long and 150m vertical drop) which makes it very fast and quite dangerous so they don't just launch beginners off at the top. On other tracks people get to move to the top pretty quickly but its a slow progression at Whistler.
The track has 16 turns numbered from top to bottom.
With a sprinting start from the top of the track, a pro slider will clock close to 150Kmh, pull 5G in the bottom corner, and take just over 52 seconds to complete a run!
When a beginner takes the track, they start off from a stationary start at turn 11 (just under half the track) and they will top out at pretty much 100Kmh, pulling 2.5G and the run will take about 30 seconds. From this point its no problem to do 6-7 runs in a session without becoming tired and "sloppy".
Then after a while the slider gets to move up to Turn 7 (about 2/3 of the track). From here (again with a stationary start) they will hit about 120 Kmh, pull 3.2G, and a run will take about 43 seconds. From here, its good to only do 4-5 runs in a session, after which things deteriorate.
Then, again after they are deemed competent, the slider moves up to Turn 3 (which is the highest start for Luge on the track). From here (again with a stationary start) they will hit about 128 Kmh, pull 3.6G, and a run will take about 48 seconds. From this point, we only do 2-3 runs in a session
And then after a lot more practice there they get to move to the top of the track and finally start running starts on the full length of the track, and most people only do 2 runs a session and there are rules that prohibit more than 3...
Im sure that to the uninitiated, that just 2-3 runs of less than a minute each would seem hardly like a full training session, but I assure you that its a good amount! Having experienced it, I know first hand that in the bottom two corners I simply can not hold my head up after more than 3 runs... The forces acting on you are amazingly harsh.
The "rules" about the maximum number of runs per day for sliders are I think justified as there are more and more indications that these kinds of repeated "shock" loadings cause brain injuries that develop over time.... and everybody has "rough" runs on a fairly frequent basis... Pretty much every session I slide I get to see people "bouncing off the track walls" when they get a "wrong line" in one or other corner... and the bruising can be server!
A graphic demonstration of the forces involved... This guy is moving at about 140Kmh and his head is just dragging along the ice under the 4.3G load!
For myself, I have now progressed to the Corner 3 start and I'm also now allowed to participate in the official practice sessions for Skeleton that happen most days of the week.
Its very near the end of the season this year but I'm sliding at least twice a week now. That means I'm driving (or more correctly ride sharing) up to Whistler and back twice a week which is quite tiring.
I'm really enjoying the sliding and intend to do it even more seriously next year (after the Africa trip). I'm looking around for an appropriate used sled ($2000-$3000) and a nice but used helmet ($200 - $300). I wont feel I'm a real slider though till I'm doing running starts from the top of the track... which should happen early next season I would think... If I were at pretty much any other track in the world, it would probably take just a dozen or so runs to before I could go from the top of the track... but its those extra 20-30 Kmh on the Whistler track that can really get you hurt!
Ill let you know when I get to the top :))
