Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track - Specifications

Specifications

The track is 1,710 meters (5,610 ft) long, including braking distance. The competitive length—excluding braking distance—for bobsleigh, skeleton and luge men's singles it is 1,365 meters (4,478 ft) long and for luge men's doubles and women's singles it is 1,065 meters (3,494 ft) long. The track has 16 turns and contains 24 photocells for timekeeping. The track has a vertical drop of 112 meters (367 ft) for the entire course, with an average 8 percent and maximum 15 percent grade. The start is located at 384 meters (1,260 ft) above mean sea level. It allows for a maximum speed of 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph). The spectator capacity is 10,000.

The refrigeration system contains 90 metric tons (89 long tons; 99 short tons) of ammonia circulating in 94 sections with a total length of 80 kilometers (50 mi) of pipe. This allows a capacity of 3,100 kilowatts of (10.6 million British thermal units or 880 short tons of refrigeration) cooling, which allows the track to be iced in outdoor temperatures up to 20 °C (68 °F). The facility produces 4.5 gigawatt hours per year of district heating, gaining the nickname "Norway's largest refrigerator".

The venue is operated by Lillehammer Olympiapark, which also operates the four other Olympic venues within Lillehammer, Lysgårdsbakken, Birkebeineren Ski Stadium, Håkons Hall and Kanthaugen Freestyle Arena. The track is staffed with seven employees, in addition to up to 20 more people during large events. The venue both serves local sports clubs and more than 20 nations have sledding sports training in Lillehammer. In addition the track serves up to 10,000 tourists per year; during summer rides are provided on wheeled bobsleighs. The track is operated eleven months per year. As of 2004, the venue received subsidies of between NOK 1.5 to 2.0 million per year.

The following table shows the physical statistics for the track for the various sports. It contains the competition length (start to finish, excluding braking length), the number of turns, the vertical drop and the average grade.