New York - Event

Are you ready to ride? The Mt Van Hoevenberg Sports Complex at Lake Placid offers you the chance to experience one of the fastest Olympic bobsled runs. Minimum height to participate is 48" and the price includes a commemorative photo.

Seldom does the law of gravity seem so compelling as when you arrive at the bottom of Lake Placid's Olympic bob run after a 150kmph (90mph) race down the icy track, complete with high swings up the sidewalls and bone-jarring slams on the backstretch.

The sleds are stripped-down four-man models, each carrying staffers fore and aft and two tourists in the middle. Sadly, the run's most notable feature, the hairpin turn at the halfway point, sits just above the starting point of the half-mile run offered to tourists. Any disappointment that you are missing out on the "fastest turn in bobsledding" is soon dissipated by the cocksure banter of the crewmen who work the run.

Any doubts about whether the ride will be speedy at only half the competition distance disappear rapidly as the sled picks up speed. Of course, the fact that you have no control over it contributes to the general thrill, unease or panic, depending on your outlook.