Profile
The USA Luge Fantasy Camp offers its participants an opportunity to experience the thrill of being a world class luge athlete. The coaching staff, made up of Olympic and World Cup medal winners, offers its expertise to help fully experience the sport of luge with an emphasis on fun and safety. The camps provide businesses with a one-of-a-kind opportunity for corporate outings, team building, thanking top employees or rewarding loyal customers. It is also a great chance for the individual interested in experiencing the thrill of a lifetime to support the athletes and programs of USA Luge. As this is a fundraising activity for USA Luge (a non-profit organization), a portion of the registration fee will be tax deductible.
Highlights:
- Two to three days of on ice training.
- Housing at the United States Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid
- Instruction includes proper start, steering and racing techniques. A strong emphasis is placed on safety.
- Video review of each sliding session with coaching staff.
- One year membership to the United States Luge Association.
- A farewell banquet with a fun video review of the camp.
Overview
The village of Lake Placid, N.Y. is synonymous with winter sports. In 1932, the world focused it’s attention on the picturesque village when it staged North America’s first Winter Olympics. In 1980, the tradition continued as Lake Placid hosted the Games once again. Olympic history was made as the U.S. hockey team stunned the world by defeating the powerful Russian team and continued on to win gold. Today, the challenging slopes of Whiteface Mountain, ice skating, cross country skiing and quaint shops continue to draw thrill-seekers and tourists alike during the winter months.
The Olympic Sports Complex, site of the luge track, served up many great moments in USA Luge history, including gold medal performances from Mark Grimmette/Brian Martin at the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games and Erin Hamlin’s gold medal at the 2009 World Championships, the first-ever for a U.S. woman. in 2015, Hamlin lead Emily Sweeney and Summer Britcher to a first-ever women’s podium sweep. The USA Luge Fantasy camp will give a few lucky participants an opportunity to slide down the same run where the world’s best come to compete.
Fantasy Camp sliders will experience the sport firsthand as they negotiate their way down the world’s most exciting course at the Olympic Sports Complex. Coach Gordy Sheer (1998 Olympic silver medalist, 1997 world cup champion, 1995 and 1996 world championship silver medalist) will teach the athletes the basics of sled control and safety. Each session will be captured on videotape and reviewed to further sharpen the skills of the participant.
Athletes will be housed at the United States Olympic Training Center, primary training site for many top U.S. Olympians for sports ranging from archery to judo; to men’s and women’s ice hockey (and luge, of course!) The complex includes an impressive weight room facility, a spacious gymnasium, living quarters for athletes, sports medicine facilities, and an elaborate dining area. Elite athletes also have access to an extensive sports science department to help optimize their training techniques.
Athletes will also have the chance to learn the basics of the luge start on the indoor, refrigerated start ramps at USA Luge’s headquarters. The building contains four refrigerated luge training ramps and is the most technically advanced of its kind in the world. Athletes will use tools such as computerized timing analysis, slow-motion video and force vector meters to improve their start techniques.
The weekend culminates with a race and a farewell banquet.
The USA Luge Fantasy Camps are directed and managed by Olympic silver medalist, Gordy Sheer. Sheer and his doubles luge partner, Chris Thorpe, slid together for 12 seasons and are best known for winning USA Luge’s first Olympic silver medal during the 1998 Olympic Winter Games, held in Nagano, Japan.
Before his May 2000 retirement, Sheer and Thorpe captured 25 international medals together including the 1997 Overall World Cup crown and two world championship silver medals. Sheer, who graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in Communications in 1999, now serves as the association’s Marketing Director.
This program is designed to help support the athletes and programs of USA Luge. USA Luge is a not-for-profit organization which oversees the recruitment, development, training and racing needs for the sport of luge in the United States.
