Connecting Canadians with a Shared Passion to #JustSlide
You may consider this a niche sport, something diligently pursued by a globe-trotting few.
The truth of the matter?
You, too, are a full-fledged member of this community, whether you realize it or not.
The participatory base, coast-to-coast-to-coast, includes nearly everyone in this country. Luge, as Tim Farstad likes to point out, is the French word for sled.
"So, if you like to slide down a hill, you're already luging," says the executive director of Luge Canada. "Everybody in Canada does it. Everybody can connect to luge. The root of our sport, everyone does. More than hockey, more than skiing, everyone has been on something sliding down a hill.
"When people think about it that way, you can start establishing a community — and then we're all connected."
It's simply a matter of raising the awareness of that link — the association between bumping down some hill and careening down a world-class course — which is why Luge Canada is embarking on a campaign, #JustSlide, to promote the sport, and get more Canadians enjoying the thrill of sliding down community tobogganing hills.
In the coming months, to give luge a reboot on a national scale, video content and storytelling will be shared via social media channels.
“It’s a great concept," says Sam Edney, four-time Olympian and high-performance director of Luge Canada. "We're looking forward to growing the interest and using multiple platforms to try to grow the sport and the reach of the sport.”
To illustrate the welcoming and rewarding nature of the luge community, the #JustSlide project intends to amplify inspirational journeys of athletes, coaches, families, organizers, officials and volunteers. Events, big and small, will also be highlighted, demonstrating the masses of Canadians who share a passion to hop on a sled and slide down a snow, or ice-covered hill with family or friends.
With the 53rd FIL Luge World Championships set for Whistler, B.C., February 6-8, 2025, the sport's Olympic best athletes will be on display in this country should anyone require a jolt of inspiration.
“We want to be a recognizable sport in the Canadian household," says Edney. “I would love to see us have a wider reach with our programs and clubs across the nation. It’s about starting there and getting folks exposed to the various entry points of high-performance luge."
When Farstad refers to recruitment, he's talking about casting a wide net. Not only identifying up-and-comers with potential, he wants more fans, more parents eager to get their kids involved with tobogganing, more sponsors and more supporters — and much more interest.
"To me, all of that is recruiting," says Farstad. "Suddenly, more people care about our sport — that's a huge deal. If we just concentrate on needing another young boy or girl in the program, that's just a few athletes. But if we start talking about recruiting a community? That's thousands.
"There are no barriers. It's a sport everyone can do. We're just the high-tech version."
The closing of the track at WinSport in 2019 left Whistler as the only top-end venue in Canada. Which created questions of accessibility. “For sure, our profile started to diminish over the years from not being as active in Calgary," says Edney.
But there is confidence that luge's relevance can be restored through a grassroots emphasis. And for keeners, expert guidance awaits.
"If it (sledding on snow or ice) is something a person really, really loves and is passionate about, then there is a progression into something more organized," says Alex Gough, four-time Olympian and president of Luge Canada. “We definitely have mechanisms in place to bring in anyone who is looking to get into the sport (regardless of where they live in Canada)."
Gough and Edney know exactly how that looks.
When Edney was a junior high student in Calgary, his gym teacher told him about an identification camp. With organizers looking for well-rounded athletes, Edney would get a chance to try ski jumping, biathlon or luge.
He chose you-know-what, and, after his first run, he was sold.
“It's glorified tobogganing," Edney says. "You have a truck to take you back to the top, and it's timed to add in that racing element. And the speed? Unlike anything I’d hit before. It was really cool."
As fate would have it, Edney's parents are friends with Gough's. Next thing you know she is giving it a whirl, too. “It’s a rush like no other, really," says Gough. “I have vivid memories of a dark, windy night at WinSport, being nervous to sit on a sled for the first time but getting to the bottom and wanting to go again.
“A couple of years later, I came home and told my parents I was going to a Junior World Cup.”
Edney and Gough went on to become members of an exclusive club in Canada — Olympic luge medallists. At the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea — site of the team's only podium appearances — Gough earned bronze in the women's singles competition. Then, in the team relay, she and Edney combined with Tristan Walker and Justin Snith to bring home silver.
Now they are itching to swing open the doors for others.
Through recruitment camps, such as RBC Training Ground, Luge Canada is on the hunt for potential sliders. "Show us you're a good athlete, then we fast-track you to be an Alex or a Sam one day," says Farstad. "We're taking really good athletes and moulding them into lugers."
For newbies, the appeal is obvious. The thrill is like none other — speeds of more than 140 km/h can be reached in luge, the fastest of all sliding sports — and it's an activity you can pick up as a teenager.
“It’s very rare to see someone get to the bottom of a toboggan hill and not have a huge smile or a mouth filled with snow," says Edney. “I would say to any parent that you'll see the same reaction when you throw them on an Olympic luge sled and put a track in front of them. The moment they get to the bottom, it’s very rare that you don’t see that same smile.”