USA Lake Placid

lake_placid_img

Track info

Country:
United States
Track name:
Mt. Van Hoevenberg Combination Bobsled, Skeleton & Luge Track
GMT:
-5
WCH's years:
1949 WCH
1961 WCH
1969 WCH
1973 WCH
1978 WCH
1983 WCH
1997 WCH Skeleton
2003 WCH Bobsleigh
2009 WCH
2012 WCH
OWG's years:
1932 OWG
1980 OWG
Total length:
1680 m
Competition length:
1455 m
Maximum gradient:
20.00 %
Average gradient:
9.00 %
Vertical drop:
128.00 m
Number of curves:
20

Contact information

John Napier [email protected] Operations Supervisor

Zach Catillaz [email protected] Sport Operations

Phone no. +1 518 837 5610
Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA)
2634 Main Street, Lake Placid, NY 12946

 

Track history

The bobsled track originally built in Lake Placid was ranked among the most difficult in the world, hosting the Olympic Winter Games in 1932 and 1980. However, a new combination course was built to replace the aging Olympic bobsled track. Completed in 2000, the Lake Placid Combination Track is considered one of the most technically demanding tracks for sliders of all disciplines, featuring 20 challenging curves. It is considered the home track of many of the nation’s top sliders in the sports of bobsled, skeleton and luge. The track is a regular host of World Cup and other sliding competitions, last hosting the Bobsled & Skeleton World Championships in 2012.

Did you know that…?

There is the most number of curves (20) for a competitive sliding track. Curves 4-9 are known as the “Devil’s Highway”, which makes or breaks a majority of athletes runs by being one of the most technically challenging sections in the world. Requiring precise technical driving motions at speeds exceeding 120km/h, athletes have to maneuver 5 curves that drop several stories in quick succession. “Benham’s Bend” (Curve 14) is one of the fastest points on the track before athletes enter a heart-shaped omega, known as “The Heart”, which makes up the final quarter of the course before the finish at Curves 19 and 20.

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