Bobsledding is arguably one of the most dangerous Olympic Winter sport out there. Sitting in tiny a steel sled with a couple of teammates, you reach a maximum speed of 125km per hour, experience 4 to 5g forces and twisting to an angle that is almost perpendicular to the ground. I had to give this one a go, and ended up in Whistler, which just so happened to have the fastest track in the world available to the public.
Verdict – With so much build up and expectation ahead of the bobsled experience, this ended up being a bit of a disappointment. Bobsledding felt similar to being on a roller coaster ride, and there are more exciting roller coaster rides out there …
Bucket list rating – 3 out of 5 stars
Cost rating – 4 out of 5 stars
I was once told that bobsledding was the most dangerous Olympic Winter sport out there. Basically, bobsledding is where two to four people sit in a sled and go full speed down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks. The fastest timed sled takes home the gold medal of course. In the Winter Olympic participants can go up to a world record speed of 201km per hour.
Google also tells me the dangers of this sport, with a number of fatalities on the bobsled track in the past. In terms of competitive athletes, the most recent incident seems to be in Germany in 2004.
Hearing all these stories really make me shiver in fear. Then again, I had to find out what the fuss was with bobsledding. There aren’t many tracks in the world for the public to try Winter sports. You could try La Plagne and Olympiaworld Innsbruck. I personally did it at the Whistler Sliding Centre, as it’s the fastest track in the world available to the public.
On the day, I attended a briefing session where the staff told me a couple of key points. Firstly, this is a safe sport for the public and there hasn’t been any major accident at the Whistler Sliding Centre (re-assuring I thought). Secondly, a reminder to sign the waiver (not so re-assuring anymore I thought). Thirdly, do not move and let the experienced driver in front do the work (sounds boring I thought).
After the tedious stuff is done with, the group split up into teams of three, with an experienced driver in each time. We were told that each group would get one go at the track, and would race each other to see who had the best time. As I was pretty excited, I jumped into the steel sled along with my two friends, with the experienced driver sat at the front. The staff then started pushing our sled down the ice track. I clenched on to the side rails, super nervous. We then took off, slowly gaining pace along the track. As we were told not to do anything, we just held tight the whole journey.
The next couple of minutes were full of twists and turns. We went so fast that our necks started to stiffen and height. My whole body started to swing around, as I didn’t have seatbelts, so I clenched the side rails even more tightly. The 4g force was so strong at the turns (especially the last corner called the Thunderbird corner) that I could barely lift my head up to see. All the time in the bobsled I was really looking at my friend’s large helmet, which was sticking in front of me. Surprisingly, I felt quite safe in the bobsled, and didn’t feel like flying out the track at any point (maybe its because I placed too much trust on our driver).
We eventually clocked in with a top speed of 123km per hour. Surprisingly though, we ended up being the slowest group. After some through investigation and assessment, our conclusion was that the other groups were heavier and more obese than us and therefore could race down the track faster than us (yes, if you can’t beat them criticize them!).
I had mixed thoughts about the bobsled experience. Don’t get me wrong, it was certainly a fun ride. But it didn’t really impress me enough to spend USD145 for a short ride. To be honest, the 4g impact really just felt like going upside down in a roller coaster ride to me. Perhaps because we weren’t allowed to move or steer, that I felt it was similar to theme park rides. With the amount of money spent, it might actually be more worth the money to go to a couple of theme parks.
Time for my next challenge on the track – the skeleton. Read more about the skeleton experience and a comparison of the skeleton with bobsledding here.
Additional information
| When to do it? | December to March |
| How to book? | Book online with the Whistler Sliding Center |
| How much does it cost? | USD145 for a ride that lasts around 5 minutes. |
| How to get there? | Taxi from Whistler village is your best bet. |
| How long does it take? | The ride takes no more than 5 minutes. Whole experience takes around an hour to an hour and a half including briefing and sign ups. |
| Is it difficult/safe? | No prior experience required, but you have to be between 14 and 75 years old, weigh between 41kg to 129kg and have a height between 137cm to 207cm. It is safe, and the Whistler Sliding Centre staff has told me that there have been no casualties or significant injuries with their bobsled experience. |
| What to wear? | Warm clothes! |
| Language | English |
Note: Go Pros are not permitted but you can purchase a video from the Whistler Sliding Centre afterwards.