What is Luge?
Luge is a winter sledding sport, first invented in the 19th century in Switzerland. The term may refer to the sport or to the sled used to slide down icy tracks with plenty of curves. In this sport, riders lie on their backs on the sled, carefully controlling turns with feet and shoulder movements. In World Cup and Olympic competitions, single riders of both genders and two-person luge events exist. The creation of luge, and skeleton (head first sledding) was not initially intended for competitive sporting. In St. Moritz, Switzerland, guests staying at the various health resorts were creating problems for residents when they used small sleds to slide down city streets. To keep residents safe, hotelier Caspar Badrutt built a track for guests so that they could sled to their hearts’ content. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that luge became an actual competitive sport, and it took much longer for luge to become an Olympic sport. It didn’t replace skeleton sledding in the Modern Olym
Luge first originated in the Swiss Alps and was practiced on logging roads leading from the hills to the villages. Recreational sliding became organized in 1883 with the first international competition being held in Davos, Switzerland where seven nations were represented. Luge became an Olympic sport in 1964 at Innsbruck, Austria. As the sport evolved it separated into two disciplines. Kuntsbahn, which is German for Artificial Track, and is the present day Olympic Style which has high banked turns and speeds averaging 60-90 mph. The 2nd discipline, Naturbahn, German for Natural Track, retained the look of its origins. The turns are flat and the athlete uses more body movements which can be seen by most spectators. It is interesting to note that most of the terms and the language of this sport are German. Yet we, in the U.S. adopted the French word for sled, Luge. Luge in Utah? Established during the winter of 1995, the Wasatch Luge Club (WLC) was created in response to the growing inte
