The Luge Ride

A little bonus blog to recap our adventure on the mountain bobsled. I had to take over writing this one because I feared that Jesse might leave out a few little details that I’m sure will bring those of you that know her well quite a bit of joy. Let me start by saying that Jesse is fantastic to travel with and she is getting braver by the day. First she drank water from the fountains in Rome, and today she rode a bobsled down a mountain.

We got to the ski lift like contraption, which took us up the hill backwards on our bobsleds. I thought this was delightful and a great view of the surrounding hillside. Jesse looked a little terrified, kind of squealed, but to her credit, still got on and went up. We did pass several small children sledding down the hill, and I think that might have boosted her confidence a bit. At the top of the hill, a very nice Austrian gentleman took our sleds from the lift and put them at the top of the track. To make the sled go, you had to push down on a little lever. Pulling the lever up slowed you down and made you stop. I went first and put the lever all the way down and flew down the hill. It was pretty fast and seriously so much fun!! Once I reached the bottom, I took my sled off, put it away in the shed and came back out to the bottom. Still no sight of Jesse. I was momentarily concerned that she had panicked at the top and decided not to do it, but then I saw her slowly making her way down the hill on a sled. When you see the video, it is not in slow motion. That was her speed. Apparently at the top of the hill, the man actually had to push her and tell her several times to push the lever down so she would move. Lindy, our lovely tour guide, is also in the video about to crash into Jesse because she caught up to her on the ride down. You can her Lindy telling Jesse to push the lever down and speed up to the end. I’m not quite sure if you can see the tears on Jesse’s face at the end of the video or not. She claimed they were tears from the wind. I’m not sure I believe her. In all seriousness, Jesse did a wonderful job and I am very proud of her for conquering her fear of unregulated, uninspected, small alpine village amusement rides. And I’m pretty sure she had a good time.