Alpensia Sliding Centre to make its debut

PyeongChang (RWH) The Alpensia Sliding Centre is set to make its debut when the Viessmann Luge World Cup is staged there. The first artificial ice track in Korea will be put through its paces in an international competition for the first time. The Alpensia Sliding Centre is the second artificial ice track in Asia after Nagano (JPN). The ice track for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing (CHN) is currently in the planning stage.

The artificial track within walking distance of the main press centre is 1,376 metres in length, with a vertical drop of 116.32 metres. The average gradient is 9.48%. The maximum speed limit of 136 km/h introduced by the International Luge Federation (FIL) in 2010 was not exceeded during preliminary homologation in autumn, when athletes of varying abilities from a range of countries tested the facility.

The track, which received two thirds of its funding from the state of Korea and one third from Gangwon Province, was built between March 2014 and December 2016. At next year’s Winter Olympics, there will be room for 7,000 spectators per day for the four FIL races in the women’s, men’s, doubles, and team relay events.