Winter Luging

On the 4th of August 2019, Nic Schollum of Tahuna competed in the NZ Championship (or Nationals) for winter luging held in Naseby which has the only track in NZ. Nic competed in the Junior Men category (8-14 years old) and managed to get second place.

Unlike luging in Rotorua and Queenstown where you go down a hill in a cart (with three wheels), and is done for fun. Luging in Naseby is different because it is on ice with walls around it to keep you from falling off and is done on a sled with blades to slide on the ice. 

Winter Luge is an international sport and is in the Winter Olympics but can be a destination for tourists. Many tourists go to Naseby in the winter holidays when the track is usually at its prime (best). It is a dangerous sport, helmets and special shoes with spikes are provided for safety in case you crash. Tourists go on tourist sleds, which are easy to turn but people who compete and are experienced go on racing sleds, which are heavy and lower than tourist sleds. 

Nic uses a racing sled and competed against three quite good lugers and earned second place from someone who had previously beat him twice. The race was from ¾ track because there wasn’t enough ice because of the snow that came the previous night. The track is 330m from the top with multiple curves in the track and two tricky corners Transdiesel (second last corner) and the last corner. There is another race in the holidays called the Naseby Cup which is three races and a position in each race gives you points and the racer with the most points is the winner for their category.