Luge Year-Round in Michigan!

As a mom of 4 with kids as young as 8, at the time, I was concerned about the same thing you are.  Safety.  For kids & 1st timers. 

• The minimum age is 8 for the winter track, 5 for the summer one- though I’d say that 7 or so is about right for it.  The sleds are a little heavy and you have to lug them back up on your own.  It’s not a steep hill, or long, but it’s some work.  Also, at 7, they’ll be coordinated and agile enough and have the independence to handle the track on their own.
• Ride alone–  The luge sleds are for singles (Olympics also pile on 2 for doubles; bobsleds are slightly different- with an enclosed bullet-shaped ‘sled’ that holds teams of up to 4).  So kids will ride on their own, though they have smaller, kid-friendly sleds for them.    
• Training-  They give you a 15 minute session on land before you luge, which is plenty for the basics & short enough for kids.
• Safety equipment– They provide the elbow pads and sturdy helmet.  
• Speed-  You can reach speeds of close to 30 miles per hour, compared to the Olympians who reach 90 mph.  The track is embedded in the ground.  It’s short enough and the curves well designed & controlled, so you are not going to fly out of there.  It feels fast, but there’s nothing crazy.  
• Weight restrictions apply
• What to wear–  Regardless of season, you’ll want to wear tennies, pants & consider long sleeves or a jacket and gloves to protect your skin. You’ll bank the curves on your side, which weren’t a problem for all but 1 of us (see story below!) and are super fun!  Wear clothes that are ok to get holes in.  At those speeds, you can get a nasty fiberglass rub burn if your arm rubs the side or you fall off.  It’s unlikely, 5 of the 6 of us remained unscathed, but it could potentially rub a hole and better your clothes than skin. 

So who do you think was the unlucky 6^th who received the rub burn???  Daddy, of course!  Bill zigged when he should have zagged (ie leaned wrong) and rolled his sled, much like you do when you ‘crash’ and roll off a sled in snow.  It was very minor with just a rub burn on his arm.  In fact, our guide said he’s the only crash on the track she’d ever heard of in her years there!  So, to my knowledge, Bill Wheat’s Muskegon fame is being the only person to ever crash the luge track- at least the summer one!  I think he’s actually a little proud of that 🙂  Leave it to the hubs!  He’s a thrill seeker, was a daredevil as a kid, and probably leaned with way too much zest.  The kids and I never felt in danger of crashing & had no rub burns.  As long as you lie flat on your sled and hold the handles, your body tends to naturally lean into the curves, like you would on a bike, roller coaster, or even a car turning corners.  The sleds weigh enough & the track is designed for the novice so rolling the sleds is not easy to do, so don’t overthink it.  Kids have so much fun, they just go with it, like they do snow sledding.