World Cup - Luge (In Oberhof, Thuringen)

We had such a neat experience this weekend. We went to a Men's and Women's World Cup Luge  race. I came across the event online by accident and being that we have never been to a "World Cup" event, we wanted  to check it out. It was only an hour north of Bamberg in Oberhof (which is in the state of Thuringen - former East Germany) and only 10 euro per ticket (amazing!!!). I had never seen the Luge live and we were amazed at how unbelievably fast they go. It was really neat to see. The best part was how fun and laid back the environment was. You literally were allowed to go pretty much anywhere. The racers were super friendly and we even got to speak to a couple of the the U.S. coaches. It turns out that one of the potential racers (who was in the last Olympics, but didn't qualify for this event) went to my High School. (I found this out during the actual race, when my parents texted me - gotta love technology :-). We asked the U.S. coaches about her and ended up in a really nice conversation with them -they were super nice! The Germans always know how to celebrate (apres-ski) and the mood was like one big fest. There was fun music blaring over the speakers and depending on which country was racing, the music changed to their countries' "stereotypical" music. The 2 songs that came on for the U.S. were: "Born in the USA" and the Rocky theme song. So funny! The Russian music was also stereotypical for Russia and so on... We had such a fun time!!

At the top of the hill, they had all of the flags for the countries that were represented...

"World Cup" in German is "Weltcup"

This was the top of the Luge Course where the racers took off. I was amazed that you could just walk right up to it to watch...

This is one of the German Team Members, Andi Langenhan - it was neat because he was the local favorite, being that he lives nearby and trains here

Some of the sleds all lined up and ready to go

It was fun to see the different Jackets of all of the coutries represented...

Here is an Italian racer at the top getting ready to head down...

Austrian racer at the top (again, a bit crazy that they let you watch so closely (it was so laid back!)

You could buy cow bells to ring at the bottom (I bet this tradition originated in the Alps :-))

This was funny - a Russian videoing the TV screen with one of their racers :-)

Had to get a pic with the Canadian Flag too :-)

This is one of the funniest photos that truly captures exactly how fast the sledders go. Notice everyone facing up the hill still trying to take pictures, but the sledder has already wizzed by them (my point and shoot camera caught it, by pure accident - so funny :-))

The curves were pretty scary..

This was also a funny photo. Notice near the backback, not far from Bryan, is an empty bottle of Prosecco. The people standing near us had just "prosted" with glasses of Prosecco (yes glasses, not plastic cups). Yes - no guard checks and no problems with people throwing stuff on the track or anything. I love that people are responsible, so you can still do this sort of thing! 

Love these 2!!! And of course the other 2 who weren't able to join us ;-)

The curve is quite scary looking!!!

The German red cross was on standby ...

so pretty!!!!

Here is the hut of the local favorite. He had a local fan club :-)

Romania was there too!

The best decision of the day was to wear skipants. We stayed quite warm, even though it was cold out...

This makes me smile. This is a VERY common scene in Germany. They are bringing more bread up for the bratwurst. It is obviously quite fresh (no packaging or anything :-)

Lots of German flags

These were two local National TeamTandem sledders who were there to support the German team (this was an individual world cup race, so the Tandems didn't race)

Mia spotted this... It was cute. The translation is: "We were here -it was awesome!!!" We didn't write it of course, but it was our sentiments exactly!

When we made our way to the finish line, we were able to stand right up front. 

It was interesting because the time finishes on lower point. The sledders are going so fast that after they cross the finish line, they actually continue sledding up another fairly big hill in order to slow down. This is were they get off and everyone cheers for them.

Here were the American Team Members cheering for the Women...

Immediatley after their race, they had to either hit a green light or a red light (the girl is choosing her light). We weren't 100% sure, but we think it was to declare if they wanted those times to count or not???

Here is the end, just after the racers come up the hill to slow down to a stop.

lots of German Fans

This is another thing I love - the kids are able to just play!!!

The parents were in the stands and the kids were to the left of the stands just playing in the snow, while their parents watched. Again - so laid back :-)

The crowd at the finish line

adorable!!!

Here are 2 of the U.S. Olympic and National Team Coaches. They were so nice and we struck up a fun conversation. They live in Lake Placid, where the National Team trains. The man near Bryan was on the 1992 Olympic Team as a racer himself. 

And the beautiful ride home!!!

It was a great day!!!