Mountaineer Minutes

NSA Luge team

By Aidan Kelly

October 10^th marks the start of another exciting season for the four luge athletes here at NSA. Tucker West and Aidan Kelly have been training all summer for the start of the season and are hoping this will be their best one yet.

One thing most people don’t know is what the Luge team is actually doing at NSA. They show up for a few weeks in the beginning of the school year, we see them a few days throughout the year then they’re back for the spring. As it turns out they are actually training during that time. Although they spend a lot of time in Lake Placid not attending school, they are working towards being the strongest team in the world.

When they are not across the globe racing in world cups they are at the Olympic Training Center lifting and cross training. Also, the boys spend an hour a day in the refrigerated start training facility. This facility is basically a giant refrigerator where three mock up “start ramps” are iced so athletes can practice start technique. If you don’t know what a luge start is, it is the only time a luge athlete can physically accelerate themselves down the track. While sitting on their sleds sliders pull off two parallel handles and paddle their way down the start ramp. If your thinking that paddling down an ice ramp wont do much you’d be correct, that is why lugers where special gloves with spikes on the tops of the fingers to dig into the ice. Though the start does not equate to much of the luge run it can give an athlete the advantage they need to get a head start.

               
                                   German sliders practice start technique in their summer training

“You can’t really win a race in the start, but you can definitely lose one there” said Tucker West. “Although it can give you a head start someone can always beat you down the track.” He finished.

Sliding down an ice track at close to ninety miles an hour doesn’t sound like much fun to most but these guys call it home. The 19 curve track of Lake Placid is one of the hardest in the world and they are glad that they train on such a difficult track because it will make other tracks seem less difficult.

               
          A slider maneuvers the Altenberg, Germany track (this is what athletes can see on their way down)
                                                      
“Sure it was scary at first,” said West, “and yeah I’ve crashed a lot, but it’s like second nature now,” he finished.

              

                            Many lugers crash on their way down but for the most part, they’re okay!

Both Aidan and Tucker have had a quite short world cup career; Tucker having traveled to Altenberg and Koenigssee, Germany as well as Igls, Austria and Aidan having only gone to Igls, Austria. This year will extend their traveling career Park City Utah as well as Calgary, Canada, Igls, Austria Oberhof, Germany and Koenigssee, Germany for junior world championships. Also on that list is the first ever Youth Olympic Games in Igls, Austria.