Skeleton Equipment and History - Olympic Sport History Sports History Skeleton racing involves plummeting head-first down a steep and treacherous ice track on a tiny sled. It is considered the world's first sliding sport. Thrill-seeking tourists Sleighing is one of the oldest winter sports. Descriptions of the sport can be found in 16th-century literature, but as a racing sport it can be traced to the mid-19th century, when British tourists started sliding down snowbound roads in the Alps. British and American holidaymakers built the first toboggan run in Davos in 1882. The Cresta run Skeleton sled racing owes it entire early history to St Moritz and the famed Cresta Run. The sport developed in the Swiss resort town as a pursuit for the rich. E. F. Benson put it best when he wrote in 1913, “There is one Mecca, there is one St Peter's, and there is one Cresta.” Olympic history Men’s skeleton made two early appearances on the Olympic programme at its “ancestral” home of St. Moritz in 1928 and 1948.

It was then dropped until it reappeared as a men’s and women’s event at Salt Lake City in 2002. Switzerland: Bobsleigh History » Vancouver Blog Miss604 Switzerland: Bobsleigh History Reddit This fall I received the best bobsleigh history lesson in the world from locals in St Moritz while on a media trip as a guest of the Swiss National Tourist Office . After a walking tour of the town we stopped by the Cresta Run, then over to the Bob Run , after which the sport is named. Birth of the Winter Sport 2010 marks the 125th anniversary of the Cresta Run in St Moritz, Switerzland. Back in 1885 tobogganing made its way there from Britain and people began to flock to the friendly winter destination to participate in the sport. The Cresta Run itself is a 3,978 foot long natural ice run down the side of a mountain for tobogganing (or skeleton as many know it from the Olympics).

Whether it was the head-first skeleton or the luge race, both evolved from “steerable sledding” that was invented by snowbird British guests at the St Moritz hotel, Kulm in 1870. Over on the Cresta run you can reach speeds of up to 140km/h on the track that has been carved over the last century. Originally designed to entertain and carry adventurously wealthy tourists, it soon became quite the competitive sport. The Cresta Run is owned and operated by the St. Moritz Tobogganing Club (SMTC) , also referred to as the Cresta Club which has been all-male since founded by the British Military in 1885. Women have never been allowed to sled down the Cresta Run and from what our guide told us, the excuses were many. Anything from it was too dangerous to telling them that laying on their front to head down the runs would give them breast cancer. Rumour has it though that some ladies have managed to make it down over the years by cross-dressing, but that’s simply local folklore at this point.

The Bob Run You take two toboggans, tie them together, add a steering mechanism and grab a couple of your friends and you have a bobsleigh. Since toboganning became such a hit, another run was built in St Moritz — the Bob Run. Now according to most definitions, the sport is called bobsledding because you watch the riders’ heads bob as they go down the run. Alternatively, our St Moritz guide told us that a man named Robert (Bob) started up the Bob Run (his own run) across from the Cresta Run as a haven for those who wanted to tie their sleds together. Hence that new sled was called the bobsleigh, named after the run and thus named after a man called Bob. I haven’t found anything online to back this up so I’m not sure if our guide was just having a bit of fun with us or if I might be documenting this for the first time. Regardless of its etymology, the world’s first bobsleigh club was formed in 1897 at the Bob Run in St Moritz.

With longer sleds emerging with spots for two or four men the Bob Run became the longest, fastest and only natural bobsleigh run in the world. Natural means that each and every winter the build up that non-refrigerated, u-shaped run down the side of the hill using tools, manpower, and only the snow and ice that surrounds them. From where we stood after our walk over from the village, the Bob Run is basically “across the street” and up a hill from the Cresta Run. It’s not only the home of bobsleigh but also the site of the St Moritz Winter Olympics ceremonies in 1928 and 1948. Bobsleigh appeared in the first Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924 . The men who build the Bob Run each year aren’t even bobsledders themselves, however we were told they are very proud to be a part of such a momentous annual event, which is so important to the world of winter sports. When we visited in November 2009 they were merely weeks away from starting the year’s build, which would take about 3 weeks in total to complete.

The photo above shows the official starting place of the Bob Run so as you can see, they really do build it all from scratch with fresh snow and ice each winter. The photo below is the opposite view of that starting point. Little-known bobsleigh fact, the brake man only does his job at the very end of the course — at no other time are the brakes used on the bobsleigh except to actually stop it. At the end of the season (usually around March) the run is so cutup from sleigh after sleigh that before they tear down the track some folks are actually allowed to ice skate down it. Sort of like the Red Bull Crashed Ice event each year in Quebec City. Traditions and Oddities The St. Moritz Bobsleigh Club owns and maintains the prestigious track and the President, Gunter Sachs, runs the lodge and the highly exclusive Dracula Club within. We took a tour but since it was so prestigious (and had a bit of a strange theme) I will respect the secrecy and privacy of the club and its member list.

Let’s just say that strings of garlic hung from the bar, there was a bat skeleton on the wall, and apparently a coffin in the basement that – rumour has it – comes out on occasion for a few inebriated members to take a spin down the rushing Bob Run. Unsure of the validity of said rumour, Sachs does operate a nighttime competition called Dracula’s Ghost Riders for which the grand prize at the end is shaped like a coffin. The Dracula Club , known as quite the party destination has a restaurant and pub along with the members-only area. It’s open to new membership if you care to join, but even according to a Dracula Club’s Facebook page , you would have to abide by and swear to follow Dracula rules. Bobsleigh Today All history and folklore aside, at over 5,500 ft long the Bob Run finishes up in the town of Celerina and is also home to the Bobsleigh World Cup . The Bob Run is open for all nations and women who may also train on this amazing course.

The Swiss have built up a dynasty of champion bobsleigh traditions (literally, from the ground up) so it’s truly no wonder the Swiss Olympic Bobsleigh Teams excels so greatly in international competition. The 125th anniversary of the original Cresta Run , which started it all, will take place in St Moritz February 5th until the 14th, 2010. I’m looking forward to seeing how the run in Whistler treats teams this winter and how our Canadian team will compete during the Games which kick off February 12, 2010 in Vancouver. Just a few weeks ago our women’s team made bobsleigh history by placing first and second in a world cup event in Germany so it should be a great event on all fronts. You can view the rest of my photos from my media trip to Switzerland in this photo set , and read all posts here . Head over to my Birks contest find out how to win a bracelet (value $350) between now and January 14th, 2010. You can only enter to win by checking out the bobsleigh display at Birks & then answering a question on Miss604.com.

Cresta Run - SWI swissinfo.ch Cresta Run It's a man's world on the Cresta Run: Lord Brabazon in 1947. Not to be confused with the Olympic bobsleigh run of St. Moritz. Fur coats were the dress code then and still are today. And that counts for both men and women. Legendary rider Nino Bibbia instructing a mad rookie. The ban for women on the track was lifted only once in 1985. Swiss singer Betty Legler was right there to take advantage. Riders have ventured down the legendary run for the past 125 years hitting top speeds of 130 km/h. Getting ready for action. Ice masters use snow and water to build the Cresta Run ice channel between Celerina and St. Moritz, 1984. Around 12,000 rides are made on the track every year.

Shaping the track, 1984 Bob skeleton: the scariest ride on the planet - Telegraph Snow and Ski Bob skeleton: the scariest ride on the planet Charles Starmer-Smith is terrified - and exhilarated - by the bob skeleton, a glorified tea tray that hurtles across the ice at 60mph. Watch Charles Starmer-Smith brave the bob skeleton I glanced down at the claret-red snow by my feet just a few yards from the finishing gate of the Lillehammer bobsleigh track. I looked around for the wine bottle, but I knew it was wishful thinking. This claret had come from the vein, not the vine. With just minutes to go before I was to hurtle headfirst at around 60mph down the 1,400m Olympic chute on a glorified tea tray, seeing the blood of an earlier rider was a little unnerving. They call this the bob skeleton and, make no bones about it, this has to be one of the scariest rides on the planet. "That blood will be from a Cresta kiss," said Tony Wallington, in the matter-of-fact tone of a twice-Olympic bobsleigh rider.

The man behind these adrenalin-packed weekends at Norway's Olympic park explained that those who attempt the famous Cresta Run in St Moritz often "kiss" the ice with their nose or chin, leaving a layer or three of skin behind. The only discernible difference between this and the Cresta, it seemed, was that the skeleton has no brakes. I feigned nonchalance, but I was fooling no one. I have made a habit of scaring myself: I've leapt down the face of Switzerland's Verzasca Dam - the world's biggest bungee jump, I have descended the near-vertical Corbets Couloir at Jacksonhole - perhaps the most fearsome ski run in North America - and I have learnt to ski-jump at Calgary. But this fear was wholly different. The skeleton confounds conventional logic. With your hands clamped by your sides, it is akin to taking a lemming-like leap from the highest diving-board with your hands in your pockets.

At the Verzasca Dam, I could put my trust in Swiss precision engineering, and at Corbets and Calgary I had 20 years' skiing experience to fall back on, but with the skeleton there was nothing from which to draw strength. At least I was not alone. A middle-aged couple from Jersey had left their children behind to come out to Norway to fulfil a lifetime's ambition, and Steve, an IT consultant from Egham, Surrey, had raised his hand once too often at a charity auction (after a few too many drinks) and was now ruing his generosity. The novice skeleton fits no age, weight or gender stereotype. Tony told me that he has mentored people from 17 to 75. All they have in common is bottle. "Everyone has an elastic limit to their fears," Tony had explained the night before. "It is up to you how far you choose to stretch it." It was on such a pretext that his company SYS (or Stretch Yourself) was formed. The SYS weekends are not simply about adrenalin kicks - skidoo safaris, cross-country skiing and tobogganing are also on the menu.

But once he mentioned the brain-numbing G-forces of the bobsleigh and skeleton, there was only one thing on our minds. "Tomorrow, if the track is running fast, you will be joining the 5G club," he said. Withstand the pressure of five times your body weight as you descend at 90 miles an hour and membership is yours. Easy. I quietly regretted all those Christmas mince pies. After a fitful sleep punctuated by thoughts of Cool Runnings and Cresta kisses, we went out early to walk the track. The snow, hanging heavy on the branches of Lillehammer's forested slopes, made this grey coiled chute look even more imposing. Snaking down the slope like a giant metallic python, the walls were steeper, the straights were longer and the 16 turns much sharper than I expected. Tony explained how to tackle the bends - use your eyes to steer and tilt your head away from the corners to minimize the pressure. It sounded simple enough, but get it wrong at these speeds and your chin faces the cheese-grater.

We arrived at the infamous Turn 13, a shuddering 180-degree U-turn where the centrifugal pressures equal those experienced by fighter pilots. 'This is where you'll feel the full 5Gs," said Tony, his eyes sparkling. "So, is the track running quickly?" I asked tentatively. He did not need to answer. As if on cue, snow crystals began to jump in unison on the metallic railings as, high above, the sled began its inexorable journey down. What started as a distant hum became a rattle, then a roar as the sled reached top speed. The tarpaulin covering the track stiffened in its wake and the girders groaned. All we caught was a flash of eyeballs and overalls as the runners and rider sliced around the curved wall of ice at breathtaking speed. We glanced at each other, panic etched across our faces and laughed the nervous laugh of the truly terrified. Before we had time to contemplate our fate, we found ourselves at the top, climbing aboard a bobraft - our first vehicle during a day of adrenalin descents.

Designed to give you a feel for the track, this giant, padded open-top coffin looked about as aerodynamic as a Routemaster bus, but it travelled a whole lot faster. It was time to meet our bobsleigh driver. I took Kipling-esque comfort in the knowledge that, with a professional in charge, someone would be keeping his head while the rest of us were losing ours. But, unlike in the poem, he was not a man. I took one look at the tiny, blonde-haired girl in front of me and political correctness went out the window. Perhaps as punishment for my chauvinistic thoughts, I drew the short straw and was given position four, where you feel the full brunt of the G-force with nothing but cool Norwegian air behind you. It is hard to describe the debilitating effect that such immense speeds and forces have on your body. It was like nothing I have ever experienced. The last thing I remember going though my mind (aside from my coccyx) was straining every sinew just to keep my head upright. But the pressure was too great: by Turn 13, even David Attenborough might have been convinced by my woodpecker impression.

Such are the pressures involved that professional drivers have been known to lose an inch or two in height during their careers. For sub-six-footers like me, this was the perfect excuse for doing it only once. At the finish we barely had time to check that we had not turned into Gladstone Small (the famously neckless cricketer) before we were sent off to get kitted up for the skeleton. The itinerary is fast-moving, deliberately, as Wallington later admitted, so nobody quits at the start gate, although plenty do before they get there. During the bob skeleton, the body takes the impact of any collisions (although serious injury is very rare). Hence, it is on with pads on the chest, elbows and shoulders. A balaclava, jumpsuit and racing helmet complete the Star Wars look. But none of us was feeling the force during the lonely ride to the top. Barely the size of a silver platter and with delicate steel runners underneath, the sleds were unnervingly small. On Tony's instructions I lay face down, arms clamped by my sides, nose inches from the ice, grasping both handles as if they were winning lottery tickets.

My lower legs hung precariously behind me, but I could barely feel them. "Make love to the sled, it helps with the balance." Tony said with a grin. I frowned. "Engage the sled with your hips," he added. I nodded, but all I could hear was the clicking of the electronic clock and the hammering of my heart. Tony twisted my head in his hands, reminding me of the positions on the turns. "If it all becomes too much out there, too disorientating, just tilt your head left, tuck your chin in and hold on. Remember skeletons drive themselves," he said. "And if you tip over…" He had my full attention now. "Keep hold of the sled and pray. Have a good ride." He moved his foot from the sled and the runners began to creak across the ice. Seventy seconds of sheer terror lay ahead. It started deceptively slowly, but within moments I was in pedal-to-the-metal overdrive. As the sled picked its own way down the mountain, it soon dawned on me that the novice rider is simply cargo. My grip tightened in acknowledgement, along with everything else.

As I entered the curves at ever-increasing speeds, the sled reared halfway up the ice walls. My neck juddered as gravity tried to smear me against the ice, but I surprised myself by managing to tilt head to left, then right and left again. Survival instinct had taken over. But then I had my first collision, glancing off a wall with my shoulder I began pinballing down the straight. I was completely disorientated. Was it left next or right? Right, I decided. Wrong. I took turn 13 head-on. Suddenly the weight of a sumo wrestler slumped across my neck. I fought with every ounce of strength to avoid becoming a face-brake and slowly inched my chin away from the ice. From then I was in shutdown. Tilting my head sideways, I began my Hail Marys and just held on. It was only when I began slipping back down the track that I realised it was over. Overwhelmed with endorphins, I staggered to my feet. I could barely speak and my body felt as though it had just gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson, but I had never felt so alive. What a ride!

The Ultimate Travel Company (020 7386 4646, ) can tailor-make the SYS Ultimate Ice Challenge from £949 per person. The cost includes return flight from London, rail transfers, all activities and two nights' accommodation (b & b). Home Home There are over thirty highly competitive races, and riding takes place every morning of the week... read more The 150 Years of Winter Sports Video In celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Winter Tourism, the SMTC commissioned the following video from Ryan Larraman of Crestaphotos. We are proud of our long association with St Moritz and the Engadine and the friendship that binds us. Beginners on the Cresta Run Beginners can book a slot for their first day of riding by choosing a practice session from our calendar and following the instructions from there. Beginners are required to review and agree to our Terms and Conditions . You can find out more about riding as a beginner here . Quick Links Cresta Run in St. Moritz Cresta Run Not for the faint-hearted Cresta Run St.

Moritz Heroes of the ice Hurtling down an ice track head-first at 140 km/h while keeping your nose just a few centimetres above the ice. In St. Moritz, this kind of incredible adrenaline rush is only possible on the legendary Cresta Run. Brave men in full-body suits on trumped-up ironing boards with handles transform themselves into human torpedoes. Introducing Cresta in St. Moritz – this unusual sport later evolved into what we now know as skeleton, and has been carried out on an ice track between St. Moritz and Celerina since 1884. High speed manoeuvres It looks as crazy as it sounds: the athletes lie on sleds like tadpoles. At the wide end is the full-face helmet, while behind, the rider’s legs wriggle around in an attempt to steer the vehicle. Skilful manoeuvring is key. For unlike a bobsleigh run, the shape of the Cresta Run is a wide open "U", which means you can fly right off the track if you’re not careful.

Legendary shuttlecock separates the wheat from the chaff There are two starting lines on the Cresta Run: the full-length version begins at "Top", while a shorter two-thirds option starts at "Junction". Beginners are only allowed to start at the latter, and for good reason: the average speed clocked up by the best riders from a standing start is around 90 km/h, and the top speed on the lower part of the track is approximately 140 km/h. The most notorious of the ten corners is the "shuttlecock". It acts as a kind of safety valve for sleds that are too fast and out of control. The surrounding area is hence padded with hay bales. Riders who exit this corner with a display of aerial acrobatics gain entry to the "shuttlecock club" – and from then on can officially wear a red neck tie in the Cresta Club. The current Cresta record has been held by Brit James Sunley since 1999 when he completed the run in just 50.09 seconds. Skilful manoeuvring is crucial on the Cresta Run. Unlike on the bob run, if you’re not careful you can fly right off the track.

Gentlemen only The Cresta Run is an adventure, it’s like playing with fire – which is precisely what makes it so fascinating. Normally the Cresta Run opens shortly before Christmas and closes at the start of March. Over thirty high-calibre races are held here throughout the winter. And it’s all very British: the announcer speaks exclusively in English, many riders wear historical sports clothing and good old-fashioned British manners are also writ large. The Cresta Club is one of the few remaining men’s clubs. Women are not allowed to use the run, except on the very last day of the season. Beginners welcome The Cresta Club is indeed very exclusive, but non-members are also welcome to try their luck. Originally, the club’s members were almost exclusively British or American. However it’s become more open in the last few years and today many members hail from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Austria and France. Members consider it a great honour to teach beginners and introduce them to the world of the Cresta Run, and to thereby ensure this long-standing winter tradition lives on.

Tony Nash on true sportsmanship - Olympic News Tony Nash on true sportsmanship twitter Share An Olympic champion in the two-man bobsleigh at Innsbruck 1964, Tony Nash has a unique story to tell. Bobsleigh dates back to the late 19th century and owes its existence to British visitors to the Swiss resort of St Moritz, whose penchant for hurtling down the town’s roads in sleds eventually led to the creation of the famous Cresta Run. Yet despite the country’s influential role in the sport’s beginnings, it was not until 1964 that Great Britain won an Olympic bobsleigh gold, courtesy of Tony Nash and Robin Dixon, who also took the two-man world title that year and repeated the feat in 1965. Since then, however, the British have failed to win another Olympic gold in a sport they invented. It was in the fabled St Moritz, in the heart of the canton of Graubünden, that Dixon, an accomplished sprinter in the late 1950s who has since inherited the title of Lord Glentoran, became acquainted with the sport.

For his part, Nash went into bobsleighing after his father objected to him becoming a racing driver. Nash and Dixon teamed up in 1960 in a four-man bob driven by Henry Taylor, who was also competing in Formula One at the time. When Taylor suffered an injury after crashing his Cooper Climax in a race, Nash took over as the driver, with he and Dixon deciding to go it alone as a two-man team. The most enthusiastic of amateurs, they carried their equipment around the Alps in an old Land Rover. It was not long, however, before they began to make a name for themselves on the bobsleigh circuit, befriending Eugenio Monti and his all-conquering Italians, who dominated the sport at the time and helped the British duo improve their skills. And improve they did, winning an impressive bronze at the 1963 World Championships, held on the Igls track in Innsbruck ( AUT ), the venue for the following year’s Olympic competition. On returning to Innsbruck in February 1964, Nash and Dixon went second fastest in GBR 1 in the first two runs, their combined time giving them the overall lead.

After going third fastest on the third run, they found that a bolt on the rear axle of their sled had sheared off and that they did not have a spare. The selfless Monti came to their aid, however, lending them a bolt after he had completed his own run. Nash and Dixon went on to record the quickest time in the fourth and final leg and take gold by 0.12 seconds from Sergio Zardini and Romana Bonagura in Italy 2, with Monti and Sregio Siorpaes 0.73 seconds behind in third in Italy 1. “Nash didn’t win the gold medal because I gave him a bolt. He won because he was the fastest,” said Monti, who received the inaugural Pierre de Coubertin Medal that year for his wonderful display of sportsmanship. Fear and adrenaline in St Moritz - SWI swissinfo.ch Fear and adrenaline in St Moritz Experienced riders can reach speeds of 130 kilometres per hour (Keystone) Built 125 years ago in St Moritz by bored, barmy English tourists looking for winter fun, the Cresta Run is considered one of the last bastions of true amateur sport.

Some 500 club members and friends celebrated the thrilling, historic toboggan run’s birthday last week at a ten-day “bash” in the ultra-chic mountain resort in eastern Switzerland. “It is addictive – I have the X-rays to prove it,” says 74-year-old New Yorker Doug Wilson on the spectator’s bridge outside the St Moritz Tobogganing Club. Dressed in the club’s traditional uniform – yellow-and-burgundy tweed plus-twos, long socks, flat cap and other hunting garb – Wilson lets out a hearty laugh: “I have a few “Cresta kisses” as permanent reminders of the marvellous exciting times.” Beneath us Cresta riders taking part in the annual “Grand National” race launch themselves headfirst down the steep icy track, negotiating its ten perilous curves, including the infamous Shuttlecock corner, at speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour with just a tilt of the head and deft touch of a spiked boot. “Next up Lord Wrottesley,” echoes the clubhouse tannoy.

And in the blink of an eye the black-suited Clifton Hugh Lancelot de Verdon Wrottesley hurtles past for the best time of the day – 50.46 seconds. The Cresta story began in 1885 when English tourists staying at the Kulm Hotel in St Moritz built a banked toboggan course together with locals to compete against rivals from Davos. Some 125 years later the 1,200-metre run still takes exactly the same route. Starting at St Moritz it snakes its way down a narrow gulley following the natural contours, dropping around 150m as it passes through the hamlet of Cresta to the pretty town of Celerina. Every year local workmen rebuild the course by hand and from memory; it remains open for nine weeks from late December until the end of February. Shuttlecock Inside the packed white clubhouse building at “Junction”, from where beginners start, members nervously follow the big race. A huge groan goes up as course record holder James Sunley crashes spectacularly at the long left-hand Shuttlecock bend. There is a very long silent wait until he slowly rises.

“James is back on his feet and a bit shaken up,” says the cut-glass tannoy voice. Straw bales and extra piles of soft snow helped cushion his nasty fall but Sunley still has to go for a medical check-up just in case. “Shuttlecock acts as a stop value otherwise you’d be going too fast at the bottom,” explained Matthew Gimlette, who has been a Cresta rider for 25 years. “The Cresta has shallow saucer-like banks so you need to work hard to steer round them or you go out.” This is what makes the Cresta unique compared with luge or bobsled runs, where you can usually get to the end come what may, say club members. Going out at Shuttlecock is also a question of honour. People automatically become members of the Shuttlecock Club, earning them permission to wear the Shuttlecock tie and an invitation to an exclusive dinner. Death talk So how dangerous is the Cresta? Since 1885 four people have died on the course, the last in 1974. On average one ride out of every 1,000 lands in hospital; there are around 12,000 rides per year.

“People get fingers run over, bones broken, vertebrae cracked in necks or backs. There have been some serious injuries no doubt, but it’s very unusual for something like that to happen,” said Gimlette, referring to the recent death of Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, at the Vancouver Olympic Games. Beginners, who sign up for five practice rides, are given clear warnings of the risks in the “Death Talk” given by course “gurus”. “It does frighten people, but that’s the idea,” said Nigel Broadhead, a 66-year-old retired farmer who teaches novices. “But once they’ve done their first run they come back up for more with smiles on their faces.” Bullshots at the bar At the clubhouse bar waiters prepare Bloody Marys and Bullshots, the popular riders’ tipple of beef stock and vodka, while members discuss today’s results. The name of Lord Wrottersley – the Roger Federer of the Cresta world – will once again be inscribed on the huge wooden roll of honour.

“The lord of the ice” as the BBC once called him, slid to his seventh Grand National triumph and fourth Grand Slam (four trophies in one season), over two seconds ahead of Tyler Botha from South Africa and Count Luca Marenzi from the United States. The private sports club is still run on an amateur basis and boasts 1,300 mainly British, Swiss, German and Italian members of all ages. It has traditionally been dominated by the British forces and has a strong male public school ethos, and since 1929 women have not been permitted to join. But every year the gentlemen’s club organises a ladies race; female enthusiasts have also been known to sneak onto the track at the end of the season before it is demolished. Georgina Rabl, who works in the clubhouse shop, recently took the plunge for the first time. “It was terrifying. It’s like Marmite – you either love it or hate it,” she said, adding that she would definitely be back for more. Way of life But the Cresta is more than just an addictive icy headlong rush. For most members the atmosphere and international camaraderie has made the club a way of life.

“We’re fundamentally a sporting club, but the social side is enormously important,” said Cresta secretary David Payne. The ten-day 125-year celebrations in St Moritz included a packed social programme, with parties every night culminating in a huge anniversary ball at the Kulm Hotel. “We have a lot of fun,” said young wine merchant David Law. “It’s an amateur sport so we don’t do much training. The training’s done at night and the riding’s done in the morning; you sleep in the afternoon.” This distinctive amateur approach to sport, lack of change and sense of tradition is what makes the club so unique, said Payne. “I would be astonished if this club is not here in another 125 years time,” he added. Simon Bradley in St Moritz, swissinfo.ch The Cresta Run The Cresta Run is a 1,212-metre-long natural ice toboggan racetrack that snakes down a steep gulley through ten testing corners in the ski resort of St Moritz. The total drop is 157 metres and the gradient varies from 1 in 2.8 to 1 in 8.7.

Speeds on the run range from 85 kilometres per hour up to 128 km/h. The course record is 50.09 seconds, held by James Sunley. Riders brake using rakes on their boots. The run was completed in January 1885 by Major Bulpetts, the founder of the St Moritz Tobogganing Club (SMTC), and the people of St Moritz. It is still built from scratch every year. The run usually opens two or three days before Christmas and continues for nine weeks until the end of February. The SMTC is a private club with some 1,300 members, mainly British, but also from other parts of the world. Non-members are welcome to ride as temporary members, which entitles them to ride in the early mornings on certain days. After gaining experience on the track non-members can later apply for full membership, which takes roughly 3-5 years. The now traditional headfirst position was first adopted by Mr Cornish in 1887. Ladies were banned from riding the Cresta from 1929.

The 30kg flattop Cresta toboggan is almost identical to the bob skeleton, but the flattop has much longer knives at the rear, allowing riders to dig in and steer. Links More... Less... Copyright All rights reserved. The content of the website by swissinfo.ch is copyrighted. It is intended for private use only. Any other use of the website content beyond the use stipulated above, particularly the distribution, modification, transmission, storage and copying requires prior written consent of swissinfo.ch. Should you be interested in any such use of the website content, please contact us via contact@swissinfo.ch. As regards the use for private purposes, it is only permitted to use a hyperlink to specific content, and to place it on your own website or a website of third parties. The swissinfo.ch website content may only be embedded in an ad-free environment without any modifications. Specifically applying to all software, folders, data and their content provided for download by the swissinfo.ch website, a basic, non-exclusive and non-transferable license is granted that is restricted to the one-time downloading and saving of said data on private devices. All other rights remain the property of swissinfo.ch.

In particular, any sale or commercial use of these data is prohibited. Reuse article Fear and adrenaline in St Moritz Simon Bradley Feb 17, 2010 - 08:49 Built 125 years ago in St Moritz by bored, barmy English tourists looking for winter fun, the Cresta Run is considered one of the last bastions of true amateur sport. Some 500 club members and friends celebrated the thrilling, historic toboggan run’s birthday last week at a ten-day “bash” in the ultra-chic mountain resort in eastern Switzerland. “It is addictive – I have the X-rays to prove it,” says 74-year-old New Yorker Doug Wilson on the spectator’s bridge outside the St Moritz Tobogganing Club.

Dressed in the club’s traditional uniform – yellow-and-burgundy tweed plus-twos, long socks, flat cap and other hunting garb – Wilson lets out a hearty laugh: “I have a few “Cresta kisses” as permanent reminders of the marvellous exciting times.” Beneath us Cresta riders taking part in the annual “Grand National” race launch themselves headfirst down the steep icy track, negotiating its ten perilous curves, including the infamous Shuttlecock corner, at speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour with just a tilt of the head and deft touch of a spiked boot. “Next up Lord Wrottesley,” echoes the clubhouse tannoy. And in the blink of an eye the black-suited Clifton Hugh Lancelot de Verdon Wrottesley hurtles past for the best time of the day – 50.46 seconds. The Cresta story began in 1885 when English tourists staying at the Kulm Hotel in St Moritz built a banked toboggan course together with locals to compete against rivals from Davos. Some 125 years later the 1,200-metre run still takes exactly the same route.

Starting at St Moritz it snakes its way down a narrow gulley following the natural contours, dropping around 150m as it passes through the hamlet of Cresta to the pretty town of Celerina. Every year local workmen rebuild the course by hand and from memory; it remains open for nine weeks from late December until the end of February. Shuttlecock Inside the packed white clubhouse building at “Junction”, from where beginners start, members nervously follow the big race. A huge groan goes up as course record holder James Sunley crashes spectacularly at the long left-hand Shuttlecock bend. There is a very long silent wait until he slowly rises. “James is back on his feet and a bit shaken up,” says the cut-glass tannoy voice. Straw bales and extra piles of soft snow helped cushion his nasty fall but Sunley still has to go for a medical check-up just in case. “Shuttlecock acts as a stop value otherwise you’d be going too fast at the bottom,” explained Matthew Gimlette, who has been a Cresta rider for 25 years.

“The Cresta has shallow saucer-like banks so you need to work hard to steer round them or you go out.” This is what makes the Cresta unique compared with luge or bobsled runs, where you can usually get to the end come what may, say club members. Going out at Shuttlecock is also a question of honour. People automatically become members of the Shuttlecock Club, earning them permission to wear the Shuttlecock tie and an invitation to an exclusive dinner. Death talk So how dangerous is the Cresta? Since 1885 four people have died on the course, the last in 1974. On average one ride out of every 1,000 lands in hospital; there are around 12,000 rides per year. “People get fingers run over, bones broken, vertebrae cracked in necks or backs. There have been some serious injuries no doubt, but it’s very unusual for something like that to happen,” said Gimlette, referring to the recent death of Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, at the Vancouver Olympic Games.

Beginners, who sign up for five practice rides, are given clear warnings of the risks in the “Death Talk” given by course “gurus”. “It does frighten people, but that’s the idea,” said Nigel Broadhead, a 66-year-old retired farmer who teaches novices. “But once they’ve done their first run they come back up for more with smiles on their faces.” Bullshots at the bar At the clubhouse bar waiters prepare Bloody Marys and Bullshots, the popular riders’ tipple of beef stock and vodka, while members discuss today’s results. The name of Lord Wrottersley – the Roger Federer of the Cresta world – will once again be inscribed on the huge wooden roll of honour. “The lord of the ice” as the BBC once called him, slid to his seventh Grand National triumph and fourth Grand Slam (four trophies in one season), over two seconds ahead of Tyler Botha from South Africa and Count Luca Marenzi from the United States. The private sports club is still run on an amateur basis and boasts 1,300 mainly British, Swiss, German and Italian members of all ages.

It has traditionally been dominated by the British forces and has a strong male public school ethos, and since 1929 women have not been permitted to join. But every year the gentlemen’s club organises a ladies race; female enthusiasts have also been known to sneak onto the track at the end of the season before it is demolished. Georgina Rabl, who works in the clubhouse shop, recently took the plunge for the first time. “It was terrifying. It’s like Marmite – you either love it or hate it,” she said, adding that she would definitely be back for more. Way of life But the Cresta is more than just an addictive icy headlong rush. For most members the atmosphere and international camaraderie has made the club a way of life. “We’re fundamentally a sporting club, but the social side is enormously important,” said Cresta secretary David Payne. The ten-day 125-year celebrations in St Moritz included a packed social programme, with parties every night culminating in a huge anniversary ball at the Kulm Hotel. “We have a lot of fun,” said young wine merchant David Law. “It’s an amateur sport so we don’t do much training.

The training’s done at night and the riding’s done in the morning; you sleep in the afternoon.” This distinctive amateur approach to sport, lack of change and sense of tradition is what makes the club so unique, said Payne. “I would be astonished if this club is not here in another 125 years time,” he added. Simon Bradley in St Moritz, swissinfo.ch The Cresta Run The Cresta Run is a 1,212-metre-long natural ice toboggan racetrack that snakes down a steep gulley through ten testing corners in the ski resort of St Moritz. The total drop is 157 metres and the gradient varies from 1 in 2.8 to 1 in 8.7. Speeds on the run range from 85 kilometres per hour up to 128 km/h. The course record is 50.09 seconds, held by James Sunley. Riders brake using rakes on their boots. The run was completed in January 1885 by Major Bulpetts, the founder of the St Moritz Tobogganing Club (SMTC), and the people of St Moritz. It is still built from scratch every year.

The run usually opens two or three days before Christmas and continues for nine weeks until the end of February. The SMTC is a private club with some 1,300 members, mainly British, but also from other parts of the world. Non-members are welcome to ride as temporary members, which entitles them to ride in the early mornings on certain days. After gaining experience on the track non-members can later apply for full membership, which takes roughly 3-5 years. The now traditional headfirst position was first adopted by Mr Cornish in 1887. Ladies were banned from riding the Cresta from 1929. The 30kg flattop Cresta toboggan is almost identical to the bob skeleton, but the flattop has much longer knives at the rear, allowing riders to dig in and steer.

× "WINTER WONDER; Anna Davis Takes an Adrenaline-Fuelled Break in the Glitzy Swiss Resort of St Moritz, Home to the Famous White Turf Horse Race" - The Evening Standard (London, England), November 27, 2013 | Online Research Library: Questia Article excerpt Byline: Anna Davis THERE is a magical winter moment in London when the first tentative flutterings of snow float down over the city and a communal shiver of excitement runs through even the most office-bound adult. That moment is ruined for me. Ruined because I have been to St Moritz, where there is not just snow, there is luxury snow. This is professional, high class, pure, white snow. And they know what to do with it. There are no half hearted snow angels and cracked plastic sledges here. Snow is not for children. In St Moritz snow has become a proper adult game, and they take having fun extremely seriously. I am thinking this as I hurtle, screaming, at 80mph down an icy bobsleigh track in a bob sponsored by the Carlton Hotel St Moritz, where I am staying.

It is one of the many things visitors can do in the snow here without even going near a ski slope. The bobsleigh track is made entirely out of snow and ice, making it the world's biggest ice sculpture. It melts in the spring and is remade every winter to the same hair-raising, bone-rattling specifications. The four-man bob feels a bit like a hollowed-out bullet with no seatbelts or reassuring rollercoaster harnesses to keep you inside. We were thrown almost vertically up sheer walls of snow, with a 4g centrifugal force crushing us into our seats. Skidding into a "horseshoe" curve, all went silent because we could not breathe, let alone scream. It felt like we were in an ice cold washing machine, being tossed around upside down, inside out. All sense of direction was lost, we were four little peas in a tiny pod, bashing helmets and desperately trying to keep our eyes open against flying chunks of ice. After 75 seconds we stumbled out of the bob, a giggling, adrenaline-fuelled mess, realising that sledging down hills in London was never going to feel quite the same again.

A fellow hotel guest was in a bob driven by a member of the British Olympic bobsleigh team who was just helping out on the track during her downtime between training. That is how seriously playing in the snow is taken by the people of St Moritz. It's like going for a leisurely weekend jog in London and having Mo Farah there beside you, just to help out. Next to the bobsleigh run is the famous Cresta run, which is similar to bobsleighing but the bob is replaced with a small tray, and adrenaline junkies hurtle down headfirst. It was first built by the British in 1884 and women are still not normally allowed to take part. The weekend I visited, the famous White Turf horse race was in full flow -- next year's is on February 9, 16 and 23. This is a huge competition that attracts visitors from across Europe, where horses race on a huge frozen lake. It is like Ascot on ice. I don't know why they race on ice. Perhaps just because they can.

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Question: In which Swiss resort is the famous bobsleigh track, the Cresta Run?
Answer: ST MORITZ