Season Finale @ Skyline Luge Downhill Karting Calgary

Last Run at Skyline Luge Downhill Karting

As the winter draws nearer, the Skyline Luge downhill karting venue at Canada Olympic park in Calgary prepares to close for the season. Today was the last day that adventurous families could ride the chair lift up to the top of the hill and race down the winding concrete turns on a wheeled luge cart. Of course, King Calgary and friends had to get out and take one more ride before the snow comes. Check out how our adventure went today.

For Those Who Prefer, Here’s a Montage Video of the Day

Canada Olympic Park & Trinity Hills

The entire area formerly known as Canada Olympic Park (COP) has been redeveloped and is currently being completely revamped into new Calgary development projects. Much of the infrastructure that was built for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games has been removed or repurposed. Even the amazing Ice Luge track has been decommissioned for a couple years now and will be torn out soon as the costs to maintain and keep it upgraded exceeded the perceived value of keeping it. This track was one of the best Luge facilities in the world and many records were set here.

Skyline Luge is So Much Fun

The summer downhill luge course is fun for all ages. On this day, we arrived very early so that we could beat the crowd of families we knew would show up on the long weekend. There is lots of parking and the access to the Luge is right through the Main COP Winsport building that many will be familiar with. This facility has a restaurant, washrooms, a ski rental shop, bike rentals, and is the site that both the summer bike rentals and the winter ski hill rentals are all located in, as well as now the Karting and the Zip Lines.

To ride the downhill karts you pay by the ride, there are often coupons or sale price admissions available either through local retailers, tourism Calgary, or direct from Skyline luge at the start and end of each season. With these deals you can save around 30 – 40% off. Today we had decided we would ride 3 or 4 times depending on how much of a line up there was and how long it would take us.

Once you have your admissions purchased, you pick out a sized by color helmet and make your way to the base of the chairlift. The chairlift can seat 3 people at a time, so keep that in mind if it affects your group size. As well as the riders, the chairs also carry the downhill luge carts back up to the top automatically, so there are always carts at the top for you when you get there. The ridge up is pretty scenic, you can see the mountains to the west, look out over the city of Calgary, and also down on the barren hill that will soon become one of the most popular ski hills in the area in just over another months time.

At the top of the hill, the riders dismount the chairs and make their way to the start of the luge course. For new riders the staff offers quick instruction on how to slow and stop your cart by basically pulling the steering handle back towards you which applies brakes to the asphalt below. It is a very simple system and makes it so that no rider needs to worry about going too fast or losing control. The staff at the top seats the riders in the carts, gives basic rules and instructions, and then sends you off to race to the bottom.

The ride down can be fast. In fact, if you hold your handle in such a way that the brake never touches the track the carts can get dangerously fast. Knowing how to enter and leave the corners, how to keep your center of gravity low, and how to keep your speed through the turns will make the ride all that more exciting. I am guilty of having had my downhill cart pushed to its absolute limits and up onto its side a few times. Embarrassingly enough, I have also exceeded the limits of the carts on one occasion too, but we won’t talk about that since the road rash is gone now.

At the bottom of the hill, the carts are slowed and corralled into the dismounting area. Riders can get out of their cart and scramble back into the line to go back up to the top if they have unused ride tickets still. There is also a photobooth that displays digital pictures which are automatically taken of riders at a spot on the track and also on the chairlift and are available for printing and purchasing. Very much the same as Disney and other amusement parks do.

Today’s ride was a good time. I didn’t set any track records, but I did almost fall out of my cart making a video of the track at full speed. We had a good time and hope that all of you reading this take the opportunity to get out of the house and do these kinds of crazy fun activities too. It’s too late this year, but make a point to go next year. Wait for the presale tickets to be offered and buy them at a discount if you’re cheap like me. Have some fun. And don’t forget to like and share our content so we can continue to make this content.

~ King Calgary

.