The Inns' Bruck
tourism website says of this facility that, "...
The Olympic Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton
Track in Innsbruck-Igls has enjoyed cult
status since hosting the Winter Olympic
Games in 1976 and Stefan Raab’s Wok World
Championships."
The first world championships in bobsled and
luge were staged at Igls in 1935 on a track
that ran from "Römerstraße" to the valley
station for the "Patscherkofelbahn". However,
after a number of deadly accidents in the
final curve, that run was closed after a few
years.
In preparation for the 1964 Winter Olympics in
Innsbruck, construction of a new artificial
run at Innsbruck-Igls was started in 1962.
This involved two separate artificial ice runs
with a length of 1.506 m, 13 curves and an
altitude difference of 136 m.
When Innsbruck stepped in and rescued the 1976
Winter Olympics, because Denver dropped out,
another artificial ice tube was built in
1973/1974. This time the two separated runs
were replaced with a combined bobsled, luge
and skeleton run. This was the first combined
run of its kind in the world.
For the most part, this is the run we see
today although there have been some
modifications. The "Bobcafé" was
extended, ....
... the run was extended for one curve in
1981, then in 1990/91 a starting point for
women on the 5th curve was built completing
the expansion. I gather that the cement pipe
was reconstructed in 2004.
Statistics
Total
length: 1.270 m
Altitude
difference: approx. 100 m
Number of
curves: 14 (incl. the "Kreisel")
Max. curve
height: 7 m
Total
length of the cooling tubes: 80 km
Artificial
ice surface: 5.500 m
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