Lucy Hill working toward hosting Luge World Cup

Excitement is in the air among members of the U.P. Luge Club at Lucy Hill in Negaunee.

Since being approached earlier this winter by the International Luge Federation to host a World Cup event, the club has been working on submitting all of the necessary paperwork to move forward with the process. There has not been a Natural Luge World Cup competition in the United States since 1995, and the U.P. Luge Club hopes to bring back the excitement in 2016.

“It’s almost been twenty years since we’ve had a World Cup event here,” said U.S. Natural Track Coach Tammy Wills. “There’s been a renewed push with the International Federation to get Natural Track into the Olympics, and if that’s going to happen, the U.S. has to step up and play a more major role. With Lucy Hill being the only natural track in the whole country, it’s up to us.”

In addition to a Natural Luge event at Lucy Hill, the club is currently in talks with Marquette Mountain about possibly holding a Parallel Luge World Cup event as well.

“A Parallel World Cup event is where there’s two tracks that are built side-by-side and sliders start simultaneously going down the track,” Wills explained. “So, you see them literally snaking down the run, and it’s exciting, and it’s set up a little bit differently where it’s run tournament style, where you are in a race–off against another athlete. The faster athlete moves on to the next round.”

The U.P. Luge Club is holding planning meetings on the first Monday of every month that the public is welcome to attend. If you’re interested in helping with the efforts to bring the World Cup to Lucy Hill, you can visit the Upper Peninsula Luge Club on Facebook or call (906) 361-4843 for more information.