"Imagine yourself in the beautiful Dolomites of Cortina d'Ampezzo. The air is thin and cold. The stars blaze in the night sky above you. And inside your body is the kind of fear that empties you, that vibrates between your ears, that makes your heart pump so fast you think it might explode in your chest. You are standing at the top of the terrifying, beautiful, sliding track. It is made of solid, hard ice, just over a mile long,"
"You sit immediately atop the sled. You wear gloves with little spikes on them, and you push yourself to start with your hands. That's a little bit easier than both bobsleigh and skeleton where you have to get a running start before you slide. But then you have to lie down, be subjected to terrible camera angles, and peek your little head up against excruciating g-forces to see where the hell you are going."
A person stands atop a mile-long, icy Olympic sliding track in the Dolomites, gripped by intense fear. Walking or crawling down is not allowed; a sanctioned sliding discipline must be chosen. Luge offers solo and doubles options: solo involves sitting, pushing with spiked gloves, then lying down to endure g-forces and limited visibility; the luger cedes control. Doubles luge requires physical closeness and increases fear. Bobsleigh presents as a protective, adult choice inside a small car that shields against direct contact with the ice.
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