Stars on ice: Natural Track Luge World Cup in Kühtai 2023

Winter is here again, the snow has fallen, temperatures drop and Tyrol becomes a winter wonderland! Perfect timing to enjoy all the winter sports and events in the area. What better way to kick off the season than with the Natural Track Luge World Cup in Kühtai, just outside of Innsbruck. The event will take place on the 16th and 17th of December, and I had the pleasure of attending a prep session for the Austrian team in Kühtai, the same course that will host the World Cup this week.

So, for those of you new to this, we are talking about natural track luge, which is the original sport and was developed as its own discipline in the 1960’s, it is different to track luge. The athletes wear racing suits, protective helmets, special gloves and spiked shoes steering their sleds simply by shifting their weight, to navigate the curves of the track. When the luge hits the icy track at breakneck speeds, everything comes down to one hundredth of a second. It is all very technical, the more I looked into the sport, the more I realized how little I knew. Thankfully, I got to sit down with two top athletes, who were ready and willing to fill me in on all of it. 

A team of early birds and extremely hard workers, training started bright and early at 8am on the luge track of Kühtai. First with equipment checks, making sure the edges are sharp and the sled is up to snuff. Then comes the trek up the winding path, with a sled draped across your shoulders on the long walk up and short luge down. I was winded just watching them! 

First I met Riccarda Ruetz from Sellrain in Tyrol who started when she was only ten years old. Her father and brother were well established in the sport, which seems to be in her blood. At a young age she knew it was for her, she was born for this! “Little things can make a huge difference. Decided from a hundredth of a second, it is intense”, Riccarda told me. The whole winter is filled with training and competitions throughout Europe, testing equipment, hitting the gym, and of course taking to the track. 

Next Michael Scheikl sat down with me. He got started at only seven years old because of his uncle who also competed in luge. Now after 27 seasons of competing in luge, Michael has been named Steiermark’s Sportsman of the year, a high honor! His stat sheet is genuinely impressive, including six medals at European Championships, four medals at the World Championships, eight World Cup victories and so much more, he could not pick out an accomplishment for which he is the most proud. He loves the process, the sport, the competition. When I asked Michael what people can expect from the World Cup in Kühtai, his answer was: “Rally on ice, action pure and a spectacular event to watch.” The event will be action packed, and don’t forget admission is free! This sport takes your whole body all at once, agility, strength, it takes everything. 

Saturday, December 16th, will be the first day of competition in Kühtai, starting at 9am with the initial runs and the doubles competition, ending at 4pm with an opening ceremony and award ceremony. But, don’t party too hard because Sunday morning they are back at it.

You’ll find further details to the plan here.

All Photos: © Vera Fluchtmann