Whistler Sliding Center

Just went down this crazy madness!!! It is much more intense than I thought. I was holding on for dear life. Our driver got us down safely. We hit 124 km/​h.
This is a must try while in whistler!
Only reason it got ⁴⁄₅ stars is because the video option at the end only had one camera working. Still got the single camera angle but for an experience like that I wanted the whole video. Still a great time.

Omg! That was my team name on this crazy once in a lifetime ride. OMG was the perfect team name because the g-​forces on this thrilling ride left me scared, amazed, and tingling for the entire 50 second ride. I get bragging rights on this– I am a pro bobsled person now and rode down the fastest/​Olympic worthy bobsled track on earth. Ok, I’m not considered a pro but I do keep the bragging rights. Don’t be scared just try it and follow the directions carefully. I want to go back in the winter because I heard the ice creates higher speeds. Loved this adventure!

Most reviewers got one thing wrong…
For me, I seriously hope this is not a «once in a lifetime experience» but something I get to do at least every year and only regret not living closer so I could be back on a skeleton more often than that.
My wife and I went up to Whistler in February mostly for the opportunity for us to actually do bobsled/​bobsleigh and for me to try skeleton. I expected it to be, as many reviewers have said, a «once in a lifetime experience» and while that may be true for bobsleigh for me, that’s only because I became addicted to skeleton.
There are a lot of reviews that talk about the professionalism and helpfulness of the staff and those are, if anything, understated. Every person involved clearly loved the sliding sports and that love came through as being willing to do anything to make sure that everyone interested had the chance to share that love. And for many of us, it worked.
I’ll skip the step by step description of what to expect since there are already quite a few reviews that cover that very well but will tell you the one thing that most people seemed surprised by in their runs. While watching the sliding sports, it appears graceful and you expect the G-​forces to gradually shift from side to side. That is not the case. The G-​forces are intense and brutal and surprising the first time. I suspect that’s a big reason why first skeleton run times are pretty consistently a bit slower than the second. But, by your second run you know what to expect and surprise turns into that feeling that you get when auto racing, that «just one more lap and I can do just a little better». In my case, «Just one more run down the hill and I can do a better job of keeping my shoulders down in the ‘Gold Rush Trail’ corner complex and shave off a few hundredths of a second».
OK. I admit it. My name is Mike and I’m a Skeleton Addict.

Worth the money. This is a once in a lifetime experience. It is pricey but we actually found a deal on Groupon. The staff is very friendly and informative and puts safety first. The first hour you will spend getting weighed, fitted for a helmet, and given a safety presentation. Then you will be split into teams and taken to the starting line. The staff sits you in the bobsled. You do not have to run and jump in. The driver is a professional who works at the track. The ride was amazing and we reached 125 km. The ride is about 40 seconds. The staff takes pictures afterwards and they do sell videos and souvenirs.

The Whistler Sliding Centre was built for the Vancouver/​Whistler Winter Olympics that happened back in 2010. This meant they decided to build the longest, fastest and steepest track apparently in the whole world.
The Public can now experience this for themselves if you come to Whistler in the Winter. For a mere $ 169pp you can opt in for a ride with a pilot and 2 others in a bobsleigh or you can have a go at two solo Skeleton runs for the braver person. We opted in for the Bobsleigh and as we are locals we got a special $ 69 locals discount that was going on at the time.
The experience takes about 2 hrs including helmet fitting and orientation and then you get shuttled up to the Novice/​Womens start line which is about a ¹⁄₃ of the way down the track for your 40 second bobsleigh run.
If you don’t want to ride the track you can still have a look at the track on a free self guided tour during Winter and Summer.
It is a very pricey experience but after seeing just how many staff they have to have for safety it is understandable and it is one of those experiences you are probably only going to do once but is definitely a fun experience.

My husband was so excited after he found out that the public could go bobsleighing in the actual sliding center where the Olympics were held! It holds the record as the fastest track in the world and you can reach up to 4 G forces. For the public, though, they begin ¹⁄₃ way down the track at the women’s start, and there is a professional driver. The entire experience takes a little less than 2 hours which includes the safety training and the ride to the start. Non-​riders can view the riders from the middle of the track where I took video. He came away with a certificate of his speed (129+ km/​hr), which I think was top speed of the day and a picture of his team. I thought it was a little pricey at $ 169 pp for something that lasts a mere 40 seconds. You can also do the skeleton for the same price– you go solo and run the track twice.