The New Luge Run in Courchevel 1650 – Our first attempt…

While we’ve always loved the Luge run from 1850 to 1550 (and a bargain for things to do in 1850) this new 3km track from the top of the new Ariondaz Gondola down to Courchevel 1650 Moriond is a real step up. It’s 3km long with 450m of vertical drop, 8 tunnels and 6 hairpins.

The mix of fun, fear, screams and laughter (especially at the end) makes it a “must do” every season now…

If only it didn’t start so steep and with tight bends you could get a feel for the braking system and turning before you really had to! All adds up to the mess at the start…

Currently open from 11:00 to 16:00 every day (probably will be until 16:30 when the lifts open longer from 3rd February 2018) and from 17:00 to 19:30 on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as it is floodlit too.

Sledges are picked up from the top Gondola station and it costs €15 a go – if there’s 4 or more of you it’s €11 each (or one person descending 4 or more times would be €11 a go).

Helmets are compulsory and available with your sledge at no extra charge. A sterile hair net is provided which is a nice touch too.

If you’re a serious competitor then perhaps best not to do it in Ski Boots (it’s quite hard to loop both feet in the straps when wearing ski boots) but it’s perfectly possible as we found out a couple of weeks ago… Great fun and no injuries despite the crashes – lots of padding in all the right places!