Luge anyone?
USA Luge and Thunder Ridge Ski Area in Patterson, N.Y. are challenging winter sports fans to experience the thrill of luge and take a shot at glory during the Luge Challenge at Thunder Ridge on Feb. 26 and 27.
Those who attend the weekend event can experience the fastest sport on ice in a safe slope-side setting, with help from USA Luge Olympians, international medalists, athletes and coaches. Participation in the Luge Challenge is free, and no experience or lift ticket is required. Registration begins at 9 a.m. each day.
Additionally, coaches and athletes will be scouting each event for athletes who show potential. These athletes might be invited to participate in screening camps at a USA Luge training facility in Lake Placid, N.Y. or Park City, Utah.
It’s a little early for spring, but it will feel that way skiing and boarding this weekend in this balmy weather and with all the snow the resorts have, we will be skiing in June.
Okemo Mountain Resort will light up the night skies with a little help from the Ludlow Fire Dept. on Feb. 26. Okemo’s Light the Night Rail Jam invites skiers and snowboarders to throw down some tricks while Ludlow fire trucks throw some light on Okemo’s Bull Run trail. The Killarney will ante up $250 in prize money and host a party after the event.
Registration for the Light the Night Rail Jam will take place in Okemo’s Clock Tower Base Lodge starting at 4 p.m.
There’s more than 160-inches of snow at Whiteface, in Wilmington, N.Y. Celebration activities have been planned to welcome spring kicking off with Mardi Gras the first weekend in March.
There will be free mountain tours each Saturday and Sunday and on March 5, Lake Placid’s own Andrew Weibrecht, the 2010 Olympic Super G bronze medallist, will be at the mountain to sign autographs and pose for pictures.
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With a courageous effort that fell 0.44 of a second short, Lindsey Vonn added a silver medal, at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany where the World Championships are being held, to the gold she had won in the event at Val d’Isere in 2009.
The U.S. ended up with three skiers in the top 10, a feat not accomplished in a downhill in 15 years, with Julia Mancuso finishing sixth and Laurenne Ross, the first skier on the hill on Sunday, finishing tenth for her best top-level result ever.
