There are a lot of interesting and extreme activities on my bucket list, but I had no idea a regular person (non-Olympic athlete) could luge down a mountain, until this summer. I am so glad I found out about SkyLine Luge, in Calgary, Alberta, before our trip out west this summer. Riding up the mountain at Olympic Park, on a chair lift, and speeding down the mountain on a luge cart, was a thrilling activity to experience with my family. I don’t think any of us will ever forget it.
The Skyline Luge track runs alongside the famous Winsport Olympic Luge track in Calgary and is 1.8 kms long. You descend 100 metres from the top of the mountain to the bottom. When we first arrived at Olympic Park, we saw the chair lift first and my daughter’s and I were definitely a little nervous. We had only ridden a chair lift once, in the winter at a ski hill. Getting off a chair lift is easy, when you’re wearing skis and you can just glide. How are you supposed to do it in the summer!? Well, it turns out, it was still pretty easy. You just had to hop off and walk quickly to the side.
We arrived at Skyline Luge in the early evening. It was the perfect time to go. Not only were the lines very short, but the view was gorgeous at dusk. At the top of the hill, they give you a quick lesson on how to use the luge cart and make sure you know how to slow down and stop. As soon as we realized how easy the cart was going to be to use I lost any remaining fear I had and took off around the first turn. My youngest was still a little nervous so we took it pretty slow down the mountain on our first run.
At the end of the run there are signs asking you to slow down. You steer your cart into one of four lines, come to a stop and get off. The carts go into a loading system which carries them back to the chair lift and back up to the top of the hill. They have a lot of carts so you don’t ever have to worry about waiting for one.
It was so much fun ALL OF US couldn’t wait to get back up the hill to go again! I’m sure we would need an annual pass if we lived in Calgary we would want to go so often!
We all went much faster on our second run down the hill, but there were quite a few people, who whipped past us, obviously racing, and having a blast! There was plenty of room for everyone to pass on the course, so we weren’t worried about them.
Skyline Luge is open from approximately May to October. Their motto is “once is never enough” and this was certainly true for us! I really hope we get to go back some day!!
Disclosure: I was given passes for my family to experience Skyline Luge, in exchange for writing this article. My opinions are my own.
This looks absolutely amazing! And something I would absolutely love to do! It looks like a fun and thrilling experience for you and the family. I’m very jealous! #MondayEscapes
I have always wanted to do this but have never taken the time. I guess I will have to start my own personal bucket list so I will remember to do these things when I am in an area that offers it.
Sounds like it was great. Can’t wait to try it.