Igls Austria - Day 1

So by the time this posts, I will have been in Austria for a few days. All I can say is:
GORGEOUS!
I COULD LIVE HERE!
GORGEOUS!
GORGEOUS!

After a long long day of driving, we arrived in Igls after dark on Monday, the 15th. My first impressions were of a glowing city (Innsbruck) that looked interesting, and a long, dark, winding, steep road up the side of a mountain away from Innsbruck, that finally led us to a small clustered settlement perched on the side of the hill.

The next day, after sleeping in, feasting on cold cereal and coffee, and unpacking, the four of us headed up to the track. We parked the car at the top, then did a "trackwalk" where we walked the outside of the track rather than on the ice (there was a bobsled session going on).

This is curve 1, a little kink that looked tricky to manage at super low speeds.


I love the artistic style of the wooden roof over the corners.


The view of the valley from the track is amazing.


Here is the Igls kriesel. Instead of a 360 like Altenberg, this one is a 270 degree corner. It may be a circle, but it is very different from other kriesels. The other kriesels I've done (Altenberg and Calgary) have a lot of pressure: Altenberg smashes your face into the ice, while Calgary at least gives you a g-load you can feel. This one is so gentle it's hard to know where to steer since you can't feel much pressure at all.

Here's a pic of a bobsled going through kriesel. It didn't really oscillate at all! Apparently it used to be a lot more dangerous...notice the false wooden roof they have put in. The story goes that sleds got too high, and without enough Gs to hold them on, they would fall out of the corner. The false roof keeps the sleds low enough that they stick to the wall.


Curve 10. In this corner you want to have a lot of height, so look past Luke's shoulder at the blue lines on the ice; you want to be on or above the blue lines. Oh, they also put a false roof in here too for safety.


After the trackwalk, we had lunch then went back to the track to slide at 2pm. The track surprised me - I kept waiting for pressure and a G-load, but it never came! Then, right as you start picking up some speed, the ride is over! Compared to Altenberg it's like night and day, and I've had a really hard time relaxing. I mean, this is an easy track to get down in one piece, but I'm still so tense from Altenberg and the risk of injury at every second that I'm having a hard time making the transition and relaxing. Oh well, I've got some time still.